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  • July 7, 2019 at 8:59 am #475407
    Ted B.
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        While I’m not too-concerned about hazardous paints in the studio, I would like to avoid contaminating my septic system with solvents, lead, cadmiums and pigments in general; my well draws from 300ft. beneath my house so in-theory I could cross-contaminate both. Most of the water in the gravel field under my lawn will eventually evaporate, but some does leach deeper, potentially carrying pigment with it. Right now I’m avoiding just avoiding the cadmiums and keeping solvents to a minimum.

        One technique I like the feel-of is draining the brush-cleaning and watercolor water into a 5-gallon pail of kitty litter and letting it evaporate. Then every year or so throw the dry contents away. Sources seem to differ between using non-clumping clay-based kitty litter versus granular vermiculite. My cats get the good stuff, crushed walnut shells. But at $30/44-lbs it’s too expensive. I do have a sack of pine shavings-based kitty litter and a container of recycled paper litter that I’ve tried…but the cats hated it! And they out-number me significantly…

        Any thoughts or real-world experiences?

        Radical Fundemunsellist

        July 7, 2019 at 9:18 am #851328
        Gigalot
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            No problem if you do not use Lead White paint. You can also try to avoid Cadmiums. They arn’t toxic when ingested, but they are definitely not an environmental paints because cadmium derivatives will turn slowly over time into toxic soluble forms with the presence of water and atmospheric oxygen.

            July 7, 2019 at 10:12 am #851329
            ronsu18
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                sounds a bit like home, with a well and a septic in the same yard.
                i start with cleaning the brush with paper in a rather serious manner. then i usually take a small deep plate with slanted sides. the kind for flower pots, with glazing (?) on the inside. i use very little water, in proportion to the size of the brush, tilting the plate for proper sinking of the brush but mostly squishing it against the flat middle of the plate. i soak up the water with dirty papers last used, or pour the water into a metal bin for paint trash, lined with sturdy black bin liner. the evaporation happens overnight on the porch or on the stairs, at the same time neutralising the painty papers last produced. i take care how to empty my small studio bin spreading the papers into this metal container, and also pour the water aiming at the right papers.
                i abandoned this for work with larger brushes, 12/14, and just turped them clean with a quick rinse in the end.

                C&C welcome

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