Store mixes and shakes the paint.
You go home and open and stir it and use it
If you use it the next day, how much do you need to stir it?
How do you know it's mixed again?

You should stir it every time you take paint out of the can. Take it back to shake if it looks like the solids are separating from the liquid

 

When you pour it off into a bucket to paint out of, you should give it a little stir. One thing I've learned is that if you pour the gallon into another bucket, and you see tint streaks on the side of your original bucket, rinse that bucket out. That way, when you pour your leftover paint back in, you know there wont be differences in paint.

I really dont worry too much about stirring my paint, although that is my own bad habit, so I dont encourage it. Generally, once the paint and tint is originally shaken, it'll stay good for a while, and you'll know it when its separated. I dont advise taking it back to the store, unless they actually forgot to shake it after they tinted it, which does happen every once in a while. I just dump it in a five gallon bucket and stir it from there.

That said, it is always better to overstir it, or take it to the store, than not to..

 

Let's put it this way.

I worked in the paint at Home Depot for several years.

I have a drill.

I have several small mixing paddles that fit into the drill.

Unless the paint has been spun at the store within the last day or so, or if it a dark color, I will use my mixing paddle.

For stains, I will use my mixing paddle every day I stain and then give it s stir every time I take some new stuff.

A word of advice, never paint from the original can, always pour paint into a working can. That way if gunk gets in the pot you are working with, it won't damage the original paint.

Straining paint is a good thing as well. And so is intermixing if you are using multiple cans. If it is 3 or more cans. dump them in a 5 gallon bucket.

 

I hold it horizontally in front of my chest, making sure to hold the lid on tight, and shake as hard as I can, pretending I have a real paint shaker. I dunno. I amuse myself. Realistically, it depends on the kind of paint, but most will be fine for a few days if you don't stir them at all.

 

Actually, that does work quite well. The main thing is to get anything that may have settled re-incorporated.

You would be amazed at the number of times we have shaken paint that has a lot of colorant added, especially the deep colors, and have taken the lid off and we still see remnants of the colorant along the top edges. I do the he-man shake, put it back in the spinner and let it go a couple more minutes. And it is fine.

 

A lot depends on the brand/color of paint. I've had numerous buckets of paint stay well mixed for weeks but I've had a few that would begin to separate within a day or two. I always manually shake any can that has been sitting awhile. Once you pull the lid off it's pretty easy to tell if more mixing is needed. Often I'll 'box' the paint back in forth between my work pot and the paint can.

 

I might be wrong, but it always seemed to me that separation started as soon as the paint wasn't moving. The flecks, dye, etc. can only stay suspended in the liquid if you have some movement going on; else they begin sinking out straight away, yeah?

I've always shook my paint constantly; even while I'm using it I'll give it a stir with the drill attachment thingy. ~shrug~ That might just be an "artist" habit carry-over, I used to do acrylic figures and tabletop gaming figures and you had to shake the paint's all the time.

 

What kind of paint are you using??

most of the paints I use, dont start to separate for weeks.
the only time I need to bust out a drill mixer is for older oil, lacquers, or if Im actually mixing colors. Or if I buy some 123 or something and forget to have the store shake it.

 

What does changing colors a lot have to do with using crappy paint? You can get better paint for cheaper at a real paint store...

The thing about Behr is, they add a bunch of crap to it to thicken it up, so people can think it covers better. If you change colors a lot, you dont want thicker paint, cuz it will build up too much over time.

 

I don't know if paint quality has anything to do with the mixability or staying mixed or whatever. Not exactly my area of expertise; however scientifically, logically, it would start to sediment immediately - if it didn't then the particles (dye, flecks, etc.) would be "lighter" (less dense) than the paint base, so it wouldn't necessarily need mixing at all as it wouldn't separate out on you.

[I mean if a paint company, presumably a good quality one, were looking for ultimate customer friendly usability then they'd have an equalized system with dye/fleck that was the same density as their base medium to do just that. Just my opinion.]


That said; is extra thickness of paint on the wall a bad thing for some reason? I guess I would think the "adhesion" quality of one paint to another would be the more important bit, am I wrong? Like the whole reason I got Bher was because someone said it sticks well to itself and gives better coverage... Maybe I'm completely backwards, or I'm being overly logical/scientific about it LOL

(Though there is something to be said for availability up here, I think we might have a SW about 40 miles away, but there are no local paint places in the state that I know of, just big box stores [Lowes & Home Depot] that ship bulk from the lower 48. "Specialty paint" has to be shipped, which is flown, and the post office doesn't like mailing paint one bit. Maybe could barge it up, but that extra 500 buck freight fee probs ain't worth it for a single room heh)

 

Well, I wouldnt go drive 40 miles to get better paint... True Values or Ace's often have a small paint counter that sells benjamin moore though.

As far as interior paint, adhesion is not an issue (as far as walls go, anyway) And Behr does not have better adhesion or coverage. Maybe better than the glidden sitting right next to it at home depot....

Latex paint is thick enough where the tint doesnt fall to the bottom, like it does with stain. When the tint is originally shaken, its pretty much suspended in the paint. What happens, is a clear gel like acrylic resin slowly rises to the top, but it literally takes weeks or months, and it generally stirs back in pretty easily. I usually just dump it all in a bigger bucket and stir it up with my roller grid. Some crappy paint, will end up with straight up water on the top, and sludge on the bottom after months or years. Thats when I bust out the drill mixer.

All in all, though, its better to overdo it... I've just learned over the years when its actually needed., so I just shake the can a few times, and go nuts.

 

You can actually over mix water borne paints. It will eventually get foamy and won't return to a normal condition. Unless you have a shaker and are an idiot you'll never have to worry about over shaking it though. Although if the manufacturer forgets to put the anti-foaming agent in it it will foam up right away. I recommend stirring it whenever you go to use it until it is a uniform color and consistency. After a day or so you will sometimes see a little clear or maybe some color difference. Just stir it until that goes away and you'll be good to go. If it sits a week or more it needs to be stirred with a drill mixer or taken back and re-shaken, although some paints won't settle out that badly in a week.

Paints that are made of cheaper acrylic resins and pigments do separate a bit quicker than higher quality ones do. But they are usually easier to re-stir as they are a bit thinner typically.

As long as you have a constant product you'll be fine. It IS always a good idea to take a stir stick and scrape around the bottom to see if any pigments have settled out after a few days though.

 

What paint brands are to be avoided, and which are worth the premium?
Just stick with BenMoore and call it a day?

 

Most paint brands also have a line of paint that isn't worth using. Basically the top end of any brand should preform well. I don't like to use any coating that is cheaper than mid line.

 

I sell an ultra premium line that settles like crazy after a few days, so there really isn't a good way to say which paints are worse than others. Some premium paints with ceramic pigments (my Ultra line for example) will separate enough it should be agitated pretty well again after just a few days due to the actual weight of the pigment. Conversely Aura stays pretty well mixed up generally speaking. I've sold $27 5 gallon buckets of flat paint that you that would basically never separate because they were clay. You would need a cement mixer to mix it up unless you thinned the heck out of it. And that wasn't easy!

 

Lately, after I shake the can, I wet the brush from a mixing slat that I dipped all the way into the can.