# Rattle Can? Heard of it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958 "2019-03-11T17:26:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/21 "2019-03-11T21:00:25Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > In the car-loving community, a rattle can paint job is a lot cheaper than a body shop, whether just touching up a scratch or repainting the whole car as my friend did in college. Once you get comfortable with the idea of a somewhat imperfect finish, rattlecanning the car can be quite liberating. You can change up your ride’s look like doing your fingernails. I’ve even seen one demo describing how to get an acceptable automotive finish using the paint and a few layers of clear acrylic. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/22 "2019-03-11T22:59:24Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Yeah, but what color did you use? Camo. Duh! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/23 "2019-03-11T23:02:43Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Camo. Duh! Oh, and here I thought you liked another color.😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/24 "2019-03-11T23:13:50Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > No, I’ve never heard the term. When I read it, I thought of the cans with pennies inside that you shake to discourage/distract an animal from a bad behaviour. > > StG Right, that’s what I thought immediately, before knowing it was going to be about paint. > [@pulykamell](#): > > I voted “no,” but understood immediately what was meant when I read the first sentence of the OP. Ditto. I’ve never heard a soul use the phrase before, but spay paint cans rattle when you shake them… ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/25 "2019-03-12T00:41:29Z")
I thought was gonna be about _Cougar Town_’s **PENNY CAN!** ---
**Author:** ![Littleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@Littleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Littleman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/26 "2019-03-12T02:41:04Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > In the car-loving community, a rattle can paint job is a lot cheaper than a body shop, whether just touching up a scratch or repainting the whole car as my friend did in college. > [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Once you get comfortable with the idea of a somewhat imperfect finish, rattlecanning the car can be quite liberating. You can change up your ride’s look like doing your fingernails. I’ve even seen one demo describing how to get an acceptable automotive finish using the paint and a few layers of clear acrylic. Once you have a good understanding of paint jobs and paint types you can use cans to get an as good or better than factory looking job. However, even a bad job can actually be more expensive with cans if you already have painting equipment. 10-20 cans @ $6+ ea Vs $50 gallon of acrylic enamel that’s better now than the crap they put on at the factory in the 1950s through mid 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/27 "2019-03-12T03:01:01Z")
Nope never heard of it. I was thinking of an empty soda can my dad put pennies in to shake at the dog when he misbehaved. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/28 "2019-03-12T03:02:08Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Never heard the term, and I may have figured it out in context but not immediately. Ditto for me. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/29 "2019-03-12T03:12:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I voted “no,” but understood immediately what was meant when I read the first sentence of the OP. Me, too. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/30 "2019-03-12T14:19:32Z")
I spent a fair amount of time in auto parts stores so I’ve not just heard it but even used it a time or three. Never liked it much but when you are rushing it helps point you to the correct shelf/aisle pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/31 "2019-03-12T16:08:24Z")
There’s some kind of outfit in San Francisco that does, by request, spray paint murals (in my neighborhood they did one on a wall that was constantly getting tagged, and the taggers then left the wall alone). They are (or were) called “Rattle Can Blasters.” I’d heard the term before that, but it sort of cemented it in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/32 "2019-03-12T16:26:04Z")
Never heard that term before but in the context given I would have immediately assumed they meant a spray-can of paint. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/33 "2019-03-12T17:03:31Z")
I read it online in woodwooding forums, but it’s never a word I would use myself. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/34 "2019-03-12T17:25:15Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Camo. Duh! Yeah right. Where do you find camo rattle cans? 😃 Rattle can is a pretty common term around here for spray paint. Also, spray bombs. Especially when you chuck the empties into the campfire. I strongly do not recommend trying this out! ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/35 "2019-03-12T17:51:54Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’ve definitely heard the term, particularly on message boards around model-making. I was active in model rocketry for a number of years, and “rattle can” was a common slang term on those boards. Same with my first hearing of the term decades ago, during Spray Can vs. Air Brush debates. Back then (and maybe now) Rattle can was used in a somewhat derogatory fashion, although over the past years the Rustoleum Painter’s Touch 2x and Krylon sprays really do provide good, smooth finishes (as well as making sure the spray can is warm and well mixed/shaken). Rustoleum spray primers have become the default for many modelers, because they are good (and a heck of a lot cheaper than Tamiya Fine Surface primer). ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/36 "2019-03-12T18:09:24Z")
I’ve never heard the term but from reading the portion of your post that pops up on hover I knew immediately what it meant. I would not have gotten it from “rattal can” though; that spelling would have sent me off in some other direction; I would not have realized it was intended to be “rattle”. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/37 "2019-03-12T18:32:02Z")
Rattal Can. No … Rattal Khan! Most feared vandal of the ancient world! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/38 "2019-03-12T18:39:19Z")
Not on a Jeep, **Beck**. That’s a Ford color. Besides, it seems to attract law enforcement. > [@swampspruce](#): > > Yeah right. Where do you find camo rattle cans? 😃 Right next to the Polka-Dot spray paint. Photos here: [bob smith | Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/155285423@N02/) Scroll down towards the bottom Serious answer: [https://aervoe.com/product/military-vehicle-and-recreation-camouflage-paint/](https://aervoe.com/product/military-vehicle-and-recreation-camouflage-paint/) Nice local company ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/39 "2019-03-12T20:35:26Z")
I certainly know the term but because I was a glass collector I called them “Akro cans”. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958/40 "2019-03-12T21:33:53Z")
Never in my life heard that term. Sounds so ootsie-cutsie I doubt I’d ever use now that I know what it refers to. But, yeah, it was clear in context. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rattle-can-heard-of-it/830958.md?page=3)