I often finish with water based polyurethane. I am unsure how to ecologically dispose of the contaminated surplus (I usually pour some clean polyurethane into a small plastic container and brush from there. Some wood dust always collects). Can I pour it into the sewer? Do I need to bring it to the ‘toxic chemicals’ dump? Can I mix it with woodchips and dispose of it as solids?
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Replies
Pour it into the sewer? Are you kidding?
Take it to the hazardous waste site when you have enough to warrant a trip.
How about straining it through one of those disposeable cone paint strainers, into a clean container, and not waste it.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Edited 10/20/2008 9:19 am ET by BruceS
Pour it onto some kitty litter. The water will evaporate and the resulting gunk is non-toxic one it hardens up. It can then be disposed of in the regular garbage.
Is there any reason the kitty litter is any better than plain old sawdust? A commodity that most of us have in excess.
sand or sawdust, all works the same. Pour it on and let it dry, dispose of normally. Some Lowe's stores will dispose of paint for you, maybe finishes as well. If you want to make more work for yourself but maybe do someone else some good, some nonprofits accept leftover paints and finishes that they then use for restoring donations they intend to sell to raise money.Pouring down drain is definitely not a good idea, despite the "water based" designation there are still some things in water based finishes that you don't want to put down the drain.
Water based finishes "in the wet" require hazardous disposal. However, as others have pointed out, dried, in the can, on kitty litter, in sawdust, whatever, can go in regular trash. When I have a can to get rid of I pop the top off. A year later its ready for the landfill.
BJGardening, cooking and woodworking in South'n Murlyn'
uh yeah, I believe that is pretty much what I said. Let it dry out and dispose of it, donate it, or use an acceptable disposal method for liquids.
Never pour it into a drain or sewer. It will clog things. Standard procedure is to leave the cover off and let it harden and it can be thrown away as standard trash.
No, you don't need to take it to the household hazardous waste disposal place. The kitty litter approach works great, try that. It also works for stuff with high VOCs, but it's not good for the environment.
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