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To keep my stain and shellac, I have some glass jars from an art supply store, but I found myself needing more, and I don't want to buy them from there again (I forgot that if you put "art" in the name of something the price goes up).

Anyone know if baby food jars would work, or would the alcohol degrade the seals?

No, they don't work well. They never align right and seal properly once they have been opened. I have about 6 baby food jars of stain powder to prove it... they were once mixed with alcohol. I don't think it has anything to do with the seals degrading. I'm pretty sure the seals are silicone, which shouldn't be affected.

No food jar will reseal well, but I get around that by stretching a neoprene glove over the opening and then screwing the lid down. Just today I used some shellac I mixed up six months ago and sealed with the glove. Of course, the glove didn't survive, but they're cheap. Just like me!

Mason jars work okay too, especially the little bitty ones. I learned the glove trick after my jar-o-ferric nitrate ate the lid off a jar in a month. It eats about one glove per year, which is cheaper than buying new lids. Told ya I was cheap...

I use lots and lots of tiny mason jars - and a couple really big ones. Like Alan's use, the big ones are for things like ferric chloride and phosphoric acid.

And I'll be using that glove trick. Thanks Alan!

Did you already try some hermetic jars?
Depending how good the isolation is made on them, you can
get a really good air free environment.

eder.

• • •
Eder Mathias
http://mrhydepipes.com

Ditto, the baby food jars don't work well, but Smuckers Peanut Butter jars work fine. Pizza sauce jars might also work.

Mike Messer wrote:Ditto, the baby food jars don't work well, but Smuckers Peanut Butter jars work fine. Pizza sauce jars might also work.

A tip I picked up to keep my model paints from drying out in the jars: To get an airtight seal, smear the jar thread with vaseline. Hopefully it won't be affected like neoprene gloves.

I use teflon tape to seal my stuff.