How to Store Oil Paints, part II: The Greatest Invention Since the Paint Tube
February 15th, 2009You have a wonderful mixture of oil paint that you want to save. Or, perhaps you simply have a lot of paint on your palette and you don’t want it to dry up. What to do? The first step is to choose a piece of foil appropriate for the amount of paint you want to store. Fold in half, with the shiny side facing in.
Put the paints onto the foil at the fold.
Close the foil along the fold,
then fold again and again until there is no foil left to fold in.
Then fold over the ends twice. Attach a label and put samples of the paint on it so that you know what you have.
How long will the colors last? In my experience, they last weeks or months with no problem. While preparing this demonstration, I came across these foils which I sealed nearly four years ago.
About half the colors were still good. Here is an example of one that lasted.
Thus, four years is pushing the limits of the foils, but six months is certainly a reliable minimum lifetime if they are properly sealed.