Reuse Old Food/Condiment Bottles For All Your Woodturning Finishes

Maybe you have already thought of the ideas I will share regarding using emptied food or utility containers for your woodturning projects. That is, these can help you get organized, they don’t cost anything and you can make them a one time use or they might last for months or even years. One of my favorite is the Catsup bottle, mustard bottles and salad dressing bottles. I particularly like the clean bottles so I know the condition of the finish or glue that is inside the bottle.

I was mixing up some special finishing mixes for my woodturning projects when I thought it might help others to know how and where I store these finishes. It might seem like a simple thought and for the most part when we buy a finish it comes in a can or bottle.

When you mix your own finishes you need to store it in something and hopefully it can also be a container that you can use to apply your finish …..I mean like, squirt it out onto a rag or the project or a paint brush.

Although this isn’t game changing information …it is practical information that you can use to help store and apply your finishes.

And make use of food jars and bottles when emptied. I’m on a low budget so I’m always thinking how I might be able to use this bottle or the next bottle or can. Some work out pretty good, others ….not so good, so in the long run you just need to experiment with different containers.

I can tell you I prefer glass containers. One big downside to glass is that it cracks to pieces when hitting the concrete floor 🙂 I use mason jars of various sizes for a lot of things and I break a lot of mason jars because they were left too close to the edge of the bench and hit the floor.

Use Big Plastic Bottles to
Keep Paint Brushes Clean

I found some big pretzel bottles that were perfect for hanging paint brushes in with a little lacquer thinner on the bottom. I drilled a couple holes in the top and hot glued a dowel that I hang paint brushes on. I just use some baling wire to make some S-hooks and hang the brush into the lacquer thinner …..or course you could use whatever thinner you want…..I found lacuqer thinner cleans just about anything,

Capn Eddie’s Thoughts On finish Storage

I remember watching some Captn Eddie Castelin videos on how to mix OB Shine Juice and then apply it. He also was just as interested in how to store the finish you just made up and how to keep it in the right proportions since some of the ingredients will evaporate over a period of time, thru use or just through the plastic storage bottle itself.

Capn Eddie recommended using some squeeze bottles from Harbor Freight for storing and applying his finish but made the distinction that the DA (Denatured Alcohol) will evaporate over a period of time and you will then not have the proper amount of separate ingredients in the OB Shine Juice formula.

The long and short of it is that the alcohol evaporates from the bottle through the bottle and through the snap on top. Over time, you then need to calculate how much alcohol has evaporated and add the necessary Denatured Alcohol to get the formula back to the original recipe.

Capn Eddie recommended some plastic squeeze bottles from Harbor Freight, I purchased some and they didn’t last long. I found a good variety of Plastic Squeeze Bottles to store your finishes and other solutions….pretty cheap, Click Here.

Storing Your Custom Made Woodturning Finishes

So, over the last couple of years I have been using a variety of different food or condiment containers to store and apply woodturning finishes, glue and keep paint brushes on hand.

Reuse Old Plastic Squeeze Mustard Bottles

Mustard bottles make excellent glue storage and applicators. Buy your wood glue by the gallon and fill your old mustard bottles with the glue, the cap stays pretty tight and you can use it over and over. I use several types of wood glue so I ended up with about 3 mustard bottles filled with food safe woodglue …..works great . Mustard bottles are not the greatest for finishes because most do not seal very well. You have a screw down cap and a snap cap. The snap cap often times is loose fitting and will allow finish to evaporate …..but they are excellent for wood glue like the different formulas of titebond and other woodglues  you can easily have 4 or 5 bottles of glue laying around the shop for easy use or easy to get to.

Finishes like OB Shine Juice require air tight bottles. First I want a clear bottle so I can see how the individual components of the OB Shine juice seperate. Next I want to find a bottle that has an “air tight” seal at the screw in top and the snap on top. It becomes a trial an error method ….some work, some do not. I found Catsup bottles pretty good, salad dressing bottles are also good.

Remember you are looking for a bottle that is clear, the top is easy to screw on and seals tight (no leaks) and a flip top that seals tightly ….again, no leaks!

Recycled Plastic Food Bottles
for Temporary Storage

Once again, I try to reuse things before they hit the trash!

Large cottage cheese containers are perfect for holding parts while working on a project. They can also be used to clean paint brushes or glue brushes ….I also use them for mixing up special finishes in small batches. We go through at least one container a week ….when you are done using it, just toss it, doesn’t get any easier!

With any of these containers you can use them for long term storage if needed, with or without a lid. For instance I have a lot of 2″ sanding disks, they get used or the backing breaks off. I just keep one container for each grit. I’ll also throw in small square sandpaper sheets that aren’t completely used up.

Yogurt and Cottage Cheese
Containers for Resin Molds

Plastic food containers make excellent resin molds. Anything from the size of a gallon plastic milk or water bottle to small yogurt containers. One serving size yogurt containers are perfect to experiment with casting turning wood and resin projects.

Storing and Using CA
Glue For Woodturning

Since most woodturners use CA glue in some form, whether it be thin or thick CA …you often get it in bigger bottles that the top gets clogged or the cap is lost causing all kinds of problems. Some CA’s come with very thin and long applicator tips ….these get lost, clogged and eventually have nothing left. Once you start using those applications you realize how handy they are.

CA by the way refers to Cyanoacrylate Glue or Superglue.

What to Use CA for When Woodturning

I use CA mostly for gluing purposes when woodturning. I will use it to fill cracks or crevices. You can pack a crack with sawdust, coffee grounds, shavings and then apply some CA to it, usually you will want to use thin CA because it will soak into the material you packed in the crack and it will bond with all material it touches ….there fore helping to keep the bowl or turning project together and not flying apart.

You can also mix a little mica color with the CA, in this case you would want to use the medium thick to thick CA to give the crack a color that either blends with the wood or is in start contrast with the wood. I also use a 5 minute epoxy for this, you get more time to work the material and most times it looks better.

CA For A Finish On Your Woodturning Projects

It would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the fact that CA is a very popular finish for many woodturners. Many wood pen turners use CA for a glossy finish on their pens. Although CA isn’t used on bigger projects much, smaller stuff like handles, eggs, wands, billy bats etc look great with a CA finish…..some turners will use CA on bowls and cups but I’m not so sure that it is food safe even after it cures.

Although I do not use a lot of CA for finishes some turners do and will buy larger bottles of thin CA. This is where you would want to keep most of it in the freezer and split it up into smaller bottles for your use. Like I mentioned, some say you can keep it in the freezer for 2 years or more.

Storing Your CA

Depending on how much woodturning you do, your CA could go bad if not used in a reasonable period of time and kept in the right conditions. Therefore if is advisable to store your CA in a refrigerator/freezer until you use it. I know of some woodturners who use a lot of CA for their projects (CA can be used to give a bright glossy finish) and they purchase larger amounts of CA and by keeping it refrigerated it will last up to three years.

I mention CA, storage and application because you can purchase kits that contain smaller dispensing bottles, a couple hundred applicator tips and other pieces to help make the most of your CA.

I purchased this CA Accessory Kit and am very happy with it. I did it mostly for the CA applicator tips but ended up using the smaller bottles and refrigerating my thin CA, Medium Thick CA and Thick Ca. Something you should consider if you use any CA at all, the applicator tips are golden. They help direct the CA into cracks and crevices and keep the CA from bleeding into the surrounding wood which cause discoloration.

Final Woodturning Storage Thoughts

I hope I might have opened up your eyes to finding new and unthought of methods of storing your glues, finishes and other woodturning related products. Just keep your eye out for empty spray bottles, coffee cans, condiment bottles and other disposable food containers and you just might get a little more organized in your woodturning shop!

I have a couple of garbage bags filled with empty plastic and metal containers. Some I probably will never use but others can really make life easy in the shop….. and coffee cans, whether metal or plastic are always of use and can be easy one time containers that you’ll be glad you had around 🙂

Plastic Bottles for Vase Inserts

As I write I keep thinking I should mention other purposes for used containers. One of the most important ones for me is using a plastic water bottle for a vase insert. It holds water, won’t leak and is easy for a client to replace. Smaller vases can use medicine bottles or other pill bottles.

Wood vases are really cool, I enjoy turning them but it becomes expensive to epoxy the inside to make it water proof so you simply have to make it big enough to hold a drinking water bottle that has had the top cut off. When turning  a wood vase with a water bottle insert in mind I usually make it at least 1/4″ wider than the plastic bottle ….sometimes even a 1/2″ bigger. You want to make it bigger because the hole will either shrink or get deformed if water is dropped into the untreated vase interior.