In general, paints and mediums should be treated with care and disposal into the environment should be avoided. This is easier than expected and an important contribution to the protection of the environment.

For water-based colours, the following procedure should be used as environment protecting possibility to dispose the used painting water:

• collect the water in an open container/jar
• the solid particles will settle, the liquid/clear water remains above
• the liquid can be disposed into the drain, the solids should be disposed in accordance with applicable municipal law (e.g. via household waste)*

This is particularly easy with acrylic colours, because the solid particles remain water resistant; with watercolour or gouache, the pouring of the liquid should be done very carefully in order not to "stir up" the sediment again.

Washing the brush in oil painting techniques should be done like this:

• a sealable jar to be filled half with the desired brush cleaner/solvent
• after painting and brush cleaning leave the container closed, the solid particles will settle, the liquid(solvent) remains above
• for the next painting/cleaning session: pour the liquid into a second container/jar for brush cleaning
• re-fill the re-used cleaner/solvent into the sealable glass to settle

This procedure can be practiced over a longer period to keep solvent waste to a minimum.

Moist sediment, solvent residues etc. should be deposed at the local waste disposal site. This also applies to all undried paint or medium residues as well as containers that have not been emptied.

*(according to European disposal key 080112 s. SDB = no hazardous waste, hazardous substances)

The described product attributes and application examples have been tested in the Schmincke laboratory. The information is based on our current state of technical findings and experience. Due to the diversity of applications in terms of painting techniques, materials and working conditions, as well as numerous possible influences, this information is based on a general application range. A legally binding guarantee of specific attributes or the suitability for a specific usage purpose cannot be derived from our information; therefore the use of the products must be adapted to the users' individual conditions and tested in trials. For this reason, we cannot provide a warranty for product attributes and/or assume liability for damages that occur in connection with the use of our products.

By the way:
Specifics for product handling and product safety are available on our website under Service & Contact/Download/safety data sheets. For special questions please don´t hesitate to contact our lab-team: 

laborteam@~@schmincke.de 
T: +49 0211 / 2509-476