# Recycling old paint **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823 "2026-09-04T18:17:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823/21 "2026-09-05T00:41:23Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > You don’t remember the 1950s and 60s then. Every kid who learned how to drive learned how to change their car’s oil, and learned that the fastest, easiest way to get rid of the old oil was to dump it down the sewer. No, no, no, no! That is definitely not how my dad got rid of the used motor oil. Down the sewer? Wasteful! No, Dear old Dad gave it a second life and poured it along our back fence to keep the neighbor’s invasive bushes from sprouting up in OUR yard. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823/22 "2026-09-05T02:34:30Z")
I’ve never really understood what **varsol** is, but whenever Dad was finished cleaning his paint brushes or what have you, he would pour it behind the shed where nothing would grow anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823/23 "2026-09-05T05:37:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > but I’m wondering where this campaign started. Has there been some recent development that lets companies turn old house paint into a sellable product? Probably just one effect of more recycling programs. If they don’t encourage recycling old paint properly, people will dispose of it in worse ways: pouring it down street drains, flushing it down toilets, or concealing it inside bags and tossing it into recycling, where the non-dried-up paint contaminates the recycling and greatly reduces its’ resale value. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823/24 "2026-09-05T06:14:13Z")
The “Dirty Jobs” paint recycling episode I remember had separate tanks for different types of paint, like oil vs. latex, and they used that paint for things like maintenance on bridge pilings, and other places that needed to be painted but it didn’t matter what the paint looked like because few people would see it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823/25 "2026-09-05T06:41:13Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I’ve never really understood what **varsol** is, but whenever Dad was finished cleaning his paint brushes or what have you, he would pour it behind the shed where nothing would grow anyway. I remember “varsol” from my childhood. Google tells me it’s a petroleum-derived mineral spirit whereas turpentine is derived from tree sap. But what I wonder is whether oil-based paint is even used much any more. Even automotive paint is now mostly water-based – not necessarily the clear coat, but the colour coat usually is. Why would anyone put up with the stench and cleanup difficulty and long drying time of an oil-based paint any more, especially for indoor use? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823/26 "2026-09-05T06:50:00Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > If they don’t encourage recycling old paint properly, people will dispose of it in worse ways: People just throw in the regular garbage, the same as the other household hazardous waste they want to dispose of. Almost no one goes to the occasional hazardous waste disposal events, because they are just too inconvenient. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2026, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823/27 "2026-09-05T13:04:00Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fEknbyA5raM/hqdefault.jpg "The Simpsons - Paint Your Wagon") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEknbyA5raM) ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823/28 "2026-09-05T14:05:34Z")
Back in the day, “recycling Old Paint” meant a trip to the glue factory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-old-paint/1032823.md?page=1)