Folks,
Probably like you, I have an assortment of paints and stains in the shop. Every once in a while I give the shop a thorough cleaning, usually after completing a project, and I went through that and wondered, as I was tidying up the couple of shelves with paints and stains if I should be storing these in a fireproof box.
Wait, I know I probably should be - but does anyone have experience with actually acquiring a fireproof box for this type of storage?
Don
Is this to keep the paints from spontaneously igniting or from igniting from an outside source. I have a cabinet with doors to keep all my stains and fiishes in. All the soiled rags go in a SS pot right outside 4’ away from the house. And it has a lid on it and some water in the bottom. All my clear finishes are water based. Some of the stains are oil based. All the paints are water based. Any cans of solvents are screw top. I do have some spray shellac cans.
Never thought of a fireproof box before.
Herb
Herb,
It’s to prevent them from spontaneously igniting. I have some rattle cans (for other hobbies) and, of course, left over stains from a few projects. The gallon cans are all related to the house and are water based. And the odd assortment of solvents.
I immediately throw away any rags used for staining or with a solvent.
Probably much ado about nothing - just odds and ends rattling around in my head.
Don
I was the safety officer at a manufacturing company for many years. We had to store all flammable liquids in a fire cabinet. They are essentially double wall insulated boxes with spring closure doors. They have two purposes, one is to prevent the materials from easy access to ignition sources, the other is to collect those materials in one space so that there are not multiple fuel sources randomly in the manufacturing environment. Fire cabinets are not completely fireproof, they have a rating just like a fire safe. It is assumed that if the fire is major that the materials are going to burn but by that time it won’t matter much. For a small shop I would keep my major flammables in a steel cabinet. Alcohol, solvents and other like liquids with a low flash point should be protected from easy access to an ignition source and also any heat source that may cause them to gas off and create a flammable fume issue. Spray cans and oil based paints and stains are not flammable enough to need special storage, unless there is some special circumstance in your shop that they need to be protected from such as a plasma cutter or a welder. Oily rags should always be stored in a metal container with a lid and not allowed to accumulate. I use a metal file cabinet that I got for nothing to store anything that I am worried about. It is not much but it is spark proof and sufficient to my purpose.
Bill
William,
Thanks, you’re clearly qualified to help and you have - very reassuring advice. No special circumstance exists in the shop that seems to require extreme measures. I’m very careful to dispose of rags properly - I don’t use all that many and, although I have a lidded trash can for the purpose I usually just walk them out to the trashcan that’s 15’ from the house.
Thanks for the help!
Don