After years of packing up a cacophony of beat up paint cans with little bits of paint in the bottom, I got some great advice on how to better pack for the road.

Rachael Keebler (the incredible scenic artist who owns Cobalt Studios) suggested using plastic baggies in the painter’s listserve, and it’s a great idea.  After using this method for a while, I have discovered that there are some down sides though, and tricks to help this system work more smoothly.

Tips

1. When using the paint out of a baggie, place the baggie in a cup (a plastic cup will do) and fold the edges over the outside. Then run a length of masking tape around it to keep it in place and protect the zippy part from paint.
2. Don’t use the “one-zip” style baggies… they seem prone to leaking in the corner.
3. Label the outside of your baggies using sharpie.
4. This method is great for touch-up sized paint. If you think you’ll need a gallon of a color for some reason, keep it in the bucket.

Pros

1. Using a ziplock baggie, you can squeeze the excess air out, which minimizes the paints ability to rot. This is a huge asset.
2. Ziplock baggies take up less room than paint cans. It’s also easier to see exactly what color is inside.
3. If all the paint happens to dry out inside the bag because you spent years on the road or something of that nature, it’s easy to see the color you are trying to match.
4. Baggies are a lot cheaper and lighter than paint cans.

Cons

1. Ziplock baggies are more prone to puncture and squishing… I suggest packing them in a big Tupperware container. Not only does that protect them, but if you do have a leak it stays contained.
2. If you get paint in the zippy part, it won’t want to close, so tape it off and use caution. If you do get paint in the zippy part, at least the baggie isn’t very expensive to replace. It is, however, a pain to transfer paint from one baggie to another. (I suggest snipping a corner and squeezing it out like a tube of toothpaste if it comes to that.)

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