Ever have one of those days?

[Æ]

Ever have one of those days where things just don't go right? Actually for me it was of those nights.

I was out in my garage Saturday evening/night, busy moving things around, organizing and cleaning up. I was feeling rather proud of myself for doing such a good job.
I have this high shelf above my workbench. I store paints and stains on this shelf. I must of been shaking things a little bit too much. Several cans of spray paint tumbled off the shelf down onto my workbench. One landed on something sharp, a tool or whatever and was punctured. Spray paint started shooting all over the frickin' place. Red spray paint! I kind of just stood there looking at it, not exactly sure what to do about it. Anyway I made a grab for the can and rushed it outside in a hurry and tossed it onto the grass. Red paint was dripping all over the place. A trail of paint all the way. My hands were totally soaking red. I was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Speckles of red paint covered my arms, legs, neck and face! I only had barely enough Lacquer thinner to clean up my hands. Nothing I could do about the mess until the morning.

Two gallons of Lacquer thinner and 30 rags later, I had most of the mess cleaned up. I had to throw the clothes I was wearing away. There is now a permanent red tint on the garage floor. My drill press, bench vise, mitre box and Jasper Jig were sprayed red. Some things just couldn’t be cleaned up and had to be thrown away. It could have been much worse. Fortunately my car wasn’t in the garage at the time. I got a good laugh looking at myself in the mirror at the red speckles on my face. I had to scrub my garage floor and driveway. It took me most of the day to clean up the mess. I did a pretty good job too. Still lots of over spray here and there. I’ll clean it off as I see it.

I can’t let this happen again. I’m going to find some sort of way to secure all the cans. A barrier or fence to keep them from ever falling again.
Live and learn.

[AJ]

Something similar happened to me awhile back. I had a can of gloss black Krylon sitting in my room when it decided to burst all by itself. I quickly chucked it out an open window but not before spraying my white closet doors, white walls, the carpet, and the window frame on it's way out.

The walls and floor have since been redone but i left the spray on the closet doors as a reminder to never leave the stuff in the house. I keep my extra cans in a milk crate on a shelf in the garage.

[johnnyrichards]

3.5" hole saw and a sheet of 1/2" MDF would work. I am thinking of doing the same thing. My mishap involved backing over a brand new can of rubberized undercoating:mad:

[lhd]

I had a can of silicone spray all over a room from a high shelf. The bottom of the cannister failed at the crimp. It shot all over a wall and a couple windows. I couldnt figure out what the little spots on the window were for 2 or 3 weeks.

[Andy_G]

I once had a spray can lid break while inside a removals carton, then something pressed against the nozzle. Thanksfully there was nothing major of expense in the carton.

[djg]

As a kid, I stuck a nail down the top of a spray paint container, without the spray nozzle on. Of course paint sprayed out in a 360 degree fan, including my eyes. Stupid.

[charlielaub]

Make sure not to make matters worse... those rags that were soaked with laquer thinner-they can spontaneously combust when confined and in a hot place, e.g. in a closed garbage can. This means if the rags are not completely air dried, they can burst in to flame without any kind of spark ignition. I do not want to see your house on the news! Hope you know about this, but in case not, posting this as a warning.

When I was in grad school, I was at a 4th of July party. Suddenly this house next door started smoking and in about 90 seconds was completely ablaze. It turned out that the people had been remodeling it themselves and had left some rags that had been soaked with paint thinner inside a plastic bag inside the house! Ooops. The July heat was enough make it catch fire and poof, no more house.

Don't let this happen to you (to anyone reading this).

-Charlie

[Ryan_M]

AE, Bummer! My boss had nearly the same thing happen in the back of his van, red enamel everywhere. Good for a laugh and it makes it easy identifying which tools go in his van. LOL

Such a random event, it'll probably never happen again, but good to hear you can get a chuckle out of it.

[HT-EXT]

I hate that for you AE!

I use to have a Ranchero pickup with the cubby hole behind the seat. I let my sweetie drive it and of course she move the bench seat foward to reach the pedals. When I got in and slide it back, I heard a hissing noise from behind the seat. The rail had stabbed a can of white paint and was starting to spray everywhere. Like a dummy I grab the can and threw it out but only far enough for it to give a nice racing strip down the side of my nice truck. Needless to say alot of work was involved to remove said paint.



HT-EXT

[jerryanderson]

I recently installed a new faucet on my kitchen sink! Instead of pulling everyting out from under the sink, I just pushed everything off to one side or the other. Bad Move! I did not notice a can of black krylon with out a cap on, partially hidden by a couple of wally world shopping bags. To make the job easier I had the stereo turned up rather loud. As I slid underneath, the upper portion of my back contacted the spray valve. I did not hear the hiss becasue of the stereo and after about 5 seconds, I noticed a cold spot on my shoulder and the smell of paint!!! What The H@#&!!! I slid out and found a very large patch of black spray paint on my brand new T-shirt! One T-shirt ruined and girl friend getting a good laugh! Next time clean things out!!:eek:

[dwigle]

I borrowed my wife's brand new car a few years ago to run to the paint store. I had a gallon of white oil based house paint on the front seat until a dog ran across in front of me. I stopped short of hitting the dog.

The paint can hit the dash and a gallon of paint coated the windshield, dash, console, seats, carpet. I got most of it out but for weeks you could smell paint curing behind the dash every time we turned on the heater.

[AJ]

I borrowed my wife's brand new car a few years ago to run to the paint store. I had a gallon of white oil based house paint on the front seat until a dog ran across in front of me. I stopped short of hitting the dog.

The paint can hit the dash and a gallon of paint coated the windshield, dash, console, seats, carpet. I got most of it out but for weeks you could smell paint curing behind the dash every time we turned on the heater.

If there was a prize to win in this thread you just won it. :D

[trevorg]

A little OT...

My freind being the brilliant person he is, one summer decided to smack a paint can with a axe... Wel I gusse it had more of a charge in it than he thought it did, Cause upone striking the can, it cause it to explode and shoot up and bust him in the chin. Ripping his chin open of course. He says all he remembers was hitting the can and then all went black. He woke up, with a busted chin, and one hellave a headach. Lesson learned, axes and cans don't match...

What does this have to do with this topic... It just happen to be a paint can :P lol

[trevorg]

If there was a prize to win in this thread you just won it. :D

2cnd :D

[Mark65]

Make sure not to make matters worse... those rags that were soaked with laquer thinner-they can spontaneously combust when confined and in a hot place, e.g. in a closed garbage can. This means if the rags are not completely air dried, they can burst in to flame without any kind of spark ignition. I do not want to see your house on the news! Hope you know about this, but in case not, posting this as a warning.

When I was in grad school, I was at a 4th of July party. Suddenly this house next door started smoking and in about 90 seconds was completely ablaze. It turned out that the people had been remodeling it themselves and had left some rags that had been soaked with paint thinner inside a plastic bag inside the house! Ooops. The July heat was enough make it catch fire and poof, no more house.

Don't let this happen to you (to anyone reading this).

-Charlie


I almost did. I used to repair Jacuzzi spas, and restaining/oiling the wood was something that I did on occasion. I used an old bath mat to "mask" the deck under the spa while I sprayed on linseed oil. It never occurred to me that the bath mat might be saturated with the linseed oil, and I left it in the bed of my pickup when I got home. At around two AM the next morning, I was awakened by a horrendous banging on my front door, and when I opened it I was greeted by a cop shouting "Your house is on fire, you have to get out NOW!" They found out pretty quickly that it was the oil soaked rag smoldering, and put it out easily. The entry door to my garage was destroyed, as was an attic access panel, but I narrowly avoided having: a) my front door kicked in; b) my roof stove in by a fireman's axe; and c) my house burn down.:eek:

They did mess up one of the baffles I was working on at the time, but I will NEVER hold that against them.

I was lucky. No if's, and's or but's about it.

Mark

PS: Oh, and Alan, I feel for ya, but dang did that make me giggle...:D

[brianpowers27]

When I was in grad school, I was at a 4th of July party. Suddenly this house next door started smoking and in about 90 seconds was completely ablaze. It turned out that the people had been remodeling it themselves and had left some rags that had been soaked with paint thinner inside a plastic bag inside the house! Ooops. The July heat was enough make it catch fire and poof, no more house.

Don't let this happen to you (to anyone reading this).

-Charlie


This makes me seriously reconsider my methods. I had an empty paint can sitting out wiht 3-4 of lacquer thinner in the garage with the brush istting in there. No lid....:eek:

[charlielaub]

This makes me seriously reconsider my methods. I had an empty paint can sitting out wiht 3-4 of lacquer thinner in the garage with the brush istting in there. No lid....:eek:

I think that the problem happens when the soaked rag (or whatever) is in a closed space or, like Mark was reporting with the bath mat, is a heavy or thick item.

Not sure that a paint brush would give you a problem, but I guess you do not want to find out the hard way.

I just did a cursory search on Google about spontaneous combustion (of oily rags) and it turns out that you can just soak them in water and store them in a closed container to prevent this problem. Also, it turns out that solvents do not present this hazard, it is only oils, but I guess most surface finishing products like we use to finish speakers have an oil component. Here are some links:
http://www.scif.com/safety/safetymeeting/Article.asp?ArticleID=118
http://www.answers.com/topic/spontaneous-combustion

-Charlie

[dwigle]

If there was a prize to win in this thread you just won it. :D

I'm so proud!

I used a b u t t load of lacquer thinner and a wet/dry vacuum. And quickly learned how to take the dash apart. Now when I carry so much as a water bottle in the car my wife goes off.

[LouC]

Ever have one of those days where things just don't go right? Actually for me it was of those nights.

I have this high shelf above my workbench. I store paints and stains on this shelf. I must of been shaking things a little bit too much. Several cans of spray paint tumbled off the shelf down onto my workbench. One landed on something sharp, a tool or whatever and was punctured. Spray paint started shooting all over the frickin' place.

Did the same thing. Only mine was onto the floor and a brand new can of truck bed liner. Nothing gets that cr*p off. Especially from hair. But my wife thought I did a nice job shaving my legs!:rolleyes:

[rene]

ROFL!
Ok for future reference, THESE kind of shop blunders are worth taking pictures of! I know it's not the first thing that comes to mind, actually the firs thing that comes to mind is a lot of bad words, then "my wife's going to kill me"

Lou: you're a better man than I, I would have just scrubbed till it mostly came out... there's no way I'd shave my legs! My wife wouldn't let me hear the end of it for years!

Rene


Did the same thing. Only mine was onto the floor and a brand new can of truck bed liner. Nothing gets that cr*p off. Especially from hair. But my wife thought I did a nice job shaving my legs!:rolleyes: