mixing buckets

[JFife 14]

What have you guys found to be an efficient way to mix buckets of stain?? Say, you want to mix a 5er of brown and a 5er of red......what do you mix them in?? and do you then distribute them back into buckets?? I did it with a tub for a while, but didn't like that.....looking for a better solution. Thanks!

[Anthony G 14]

I have seen 15 gallon barrels with the open top design but they were metal. Not my favorite thing to mix in. I have seen the 30 gal open head plastic, may have to check on a 15 gal in that design. I work in a chemical facility and will see if we have access to some of the catalogs.

[Littlefield 65]

If mixing two pails together get an extra empty one, set them up in a triangle with you in the middle. Dump half of one into the empty, dump half of the next color into the first pail, dump the third pail into the first, etc. Work in a circle around three times, dumping the fuller one into the emptier one. Always keep some in every pail, don't empty one completely. In painting, this is called boxing, and is followed religiously by the good ones.

[James 624]

I do what Bigfield said.

[PressurePros 248]

same here.. showed to me by a union painter I had working for me last year.

[JFife 14]

Bigfields theory reminds me of the riddle from "The Labyrinth". Anyone ever seen a 15 or 30 gal cont. with a spicket on the bottom?? Suppose you could add one. I'll try Bigfields tip--seems like that might be good enough if you are just boxing paint, but if you are mixing two totally different colors together, in hopes of attaining one new uniform color, that seems like it might not be thorough and accurate enough.

[Anthony G 14]

Jon,

I found the webise of www.usplastic.com that has the barrels that I had been looking for. They have a 8, 15, and 30 gallon open head poly drum that would suit your needs. I have used these before and the big open top makes it easier to mix the product and get it out when you get low.

I use these for hotboxing paint together. Nothing I hate more than to paint the inside of a house and find different colors from wall to wall due to the paint supply company tinting.

Hope this helps. Kinda pricey but reusable.

Anthony