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Thread: Disposing of old SealCoat

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    Horsham, PA
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    Disposing of old SealCoat

    I have about 1/2 gallon of SealCoat that is outdated and does not dry properly. What is the best, and most responsible way to get rid of it?
    Thanks for any suggestions>

  2. #2
    The right way is to drop it off at yr community's hazardous material site. Most communities have a date every month when you can drop stuff off for free (paint/finishes, computers, fertilizers, insecticides, etc).

    Many advocate opening the can and letting as much solvent evaporate as possible and then to throw the solids in the trash. IMHO, that's not responsible to the air or land.

    One tip: some sites actually leave stuff that's in pretty good condition off to the side for you to take for free. You'd be surprised to find out how many brand new cans of paint you can get this way.

  3. #3
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    Shellac is two components. One is ethyl alcohol which can safely be left to evaporate in the air. After all, ethyl alcohol is just vodka so it is water miscerable and be pored right on the ground. It's not a pollutent. The shellac component is a natural product being a secretion from a bug. It too, is a nateral product and will not harm the environment.

    So, my point is, we're not dealing with a hazardous waste. I pour my excess on a weed bed in back of my house.
    Howie.........

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Howard Acheson View Post
    So, my point is, we're not dealing with a hazardous waste. I pour my excess on a weed bed in back of my house.
    I defer to Howard (I'm no expert). But I thought the flammability of ethanol makes it hazardous. Sec 13 of the MSDS suggests how you should dispose of it.

    http://www.zinsser.com/PDF/MSDS/SealCoat.pdf

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
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    Shoreline, CT
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    If you've got an extra 55 gallon drum of the stuff that's one thing. But the ethanol evaporates quickly enough and disperses so easily in moving air that I can't imagine a problem. Inside, you could have a problem with flammability since alcohol vapor is denser than air and flame could travel invisibly along a floor. But add water and it's just as risky as a martini add more and zilch.

    Its flammability is easily controllable. My boat has an alcohol based stove--fuel--common denatured alcohol--is pored into a canister with a wick like material. It is then just lighted with a match or propane lighter, where it burns quite nicely. A metal slide swings over the opening to extinquish the flame with no problem.

  6. #6
    I defer to Steve's experience.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    I'm not sure about shellac, but for water-based products they won't take them on collection days in our county. Proper collection is to allow them to evaporate (for example, pour them out on cardboard and let them dry) and then dispose of in the trash. Personally that's how I'd handle shellac since its not a hazardous material once dry and it would evaporate quickly in an open container outside. If you give it to them on collection day, it will get treated as hazardous waste and discarded at a ridiculous cost.


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
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    Glenmoore, PA
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    I agree with Howard and Steve. I use DNA quite a bit to clean my spray guns and blast quite a bit of it right out into the air during the process. It's alcohol afterall. And the shellac, as Howard points out, is an extract from a bug. I figure if they can put it on candy, I can dump it in my trash. For shellac that I might have leftover and want to get rid of for whatever reason, I either spray it onto a piece of ply to dry, slather it on something that needs protecting or just dump it into my shop trash can and set outside so it can evaporate. That said, I typicall don't have much leftover - a cup or so maybe.

  9. #9
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    Dump some of your DC chips onto an old board and pour it on. The DNA evaporates and the spoil can be tossed in the trash. We're talking 2 quarts here as a liquid and without the DNA it might be a cup or so of bug secretion.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  10. #10
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    FIRE! FIRE! Heh-heh...heh-heh...
    Jason

    "Don't get stuck on stupid." --Lt. Gen. Russel Honore


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