Keep Your Home Environment Safe

Do you keep solvents, such as mineral spirits, denatured alcohol, paint thinner, linseed oil, turpentine or strippers around your home?

To protect your health and your home, you need to store these products safely, use them safely and dispose of them safely. Take precautions when you throw away rags, leftover products and containers.

Here are some disposal tips. Rags soaked with linseed oil or solvents like mineral spirits, denatured alcohol or paint thinner should be spread out flat to dry or hung on a clothesline in a well-ventilated area away from children, pets and flames. When they've dry, they can be thrown away with the rest of your garbage.

Rags soaked with strippers can be disposed of the same way, as long as the paint you stripped wasn't lead-based. If it was, call your local health department to find out where the rags should be taken.

Don't pour leftover products down your drains, whether you have a septic tank system or municipal sewer system. If the product is clean and reusable, store it in its original sealed container. Don't leave it in an unmarked container. If it's not reusable, leave the can open, away from children and pets, so the solvent can evaporate. Then dispose of the container properly.

Unless you're dealing with used automotive batteries, oil, or other products that have recycling centers, check with your local environmental agency for disposal instructions. In any case, the package should be sealed so it can't leak, and disposed of in some manner that keeps it from accidentally injuring anyone or contaminating food products or groundwater.

The best course of action, of course, is to use environmentally safe products when you can.