Decanting

Decanting paint

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Why anybody does it What it makes you The label is yours The conformance statement is the hard part The container decision is a chemical one Which is where PET gets eliminated Headspace matters more than it looks And so does the closure liner Agitation is a reason for glass The thing to settle first References

Bulk into 15 mL bottles under your own name. That is repackaging.

Why anybody does it

Paint sold for airbrush or for industrial use comes in volumes a painter cannot use before it dries out, and the bottle it comes in is wrong for a brush. Decanting is a genuine service.

What it makes you

A repackager, which is in the definition of an art material, in the label contents at (b)(5) and in the twelve-month update duty at (b)(6). The statute addresses you by name.

The label is yours

Your name, your address, your telephone number. Copying the original manufacturer's label onto your bottle puts their contact details on a product they did not sell, which helps nobody and satisfies nothing.

The conformance statement is the hard part

It asserts that a review against the standard was done. Whether the original producer's review covers your decant is a question for the toxicologist who performed it, and the answer belongs in writing.

The container decision is a chemical one

The archetype says it plainly: "chemical resistance is the entire decision, check the resin chart first". An acrylic in water is easy; a lacquer or an enamel in a solvent carrier is not.

Which is where PET gets eliminated

PET is 430 of the 793 containers on this shelf and it is the wrong resin for most solvents. For a solvent-borne paint the shelf narrows to the 133 glass and some of the 133 HDPE very quickly.

Headspace matters more than it looks

A decant that sits half empty for a year is a paint curing in air. Matching the bottle to the volume somebody will actually use is a shelf life decision rather than a packaging preference.

And so does the closure liner

The liner is what the solvent meets first and the part that fails first. Specifying a bottle without specifying its liner is how a decant evaporates in a drawer.

Agitation is a reason for glass

Paint needs shaking and many need a mixing ball. Glass tolerates the abuse, does not swell, and lets the painter see the pigment load, which is most of why the trade settled on it.

The thing to settle first

Not the bottle. Whether you are relying on somebody else's review and whether they agree that you may. Everything on this page after that is specification work.

References

15 U.S.C. 1277, the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act. Subsection (a) makes the labeling requirements of ASTM D-4236 "deemed to be a regulation issued by the Commission under section 1262(b) of this title". (b)(1) defines an art material as "Any substance marketed or represented by the producer or repackager as suitable for use in any phase of the creation of any work of visual or graphic art of any medium", excluding economic poisons under FIFRA and drugs, devices or cosmetics under the FFDCA. (b)(2) "applies to art materials intended for users of any age". (b)(5) requires the label of an art material needing chronic hazard labeling to carry "the name and address of the producer or repackager of the art materials and an appropriate telephone number and a statement signifying that such art materials are inappropriate for use by children". (b)(6) requires new hazard information to be "incorporated into the labels of such art materials that are manufactured after 12 months from the date of discovery". law.cornell.edu

The archetype behind this shelf is ind-chemical: 100 to 20,000 mL, narrow mouth, HDPE and glass, light sensitive, child resistant, poured, with "chemical resistance is the entire decision, check the resin chart first" as its stated reason. All six leaves in this group sit on it. The window is an industrial one and this craft works at 15 and 30 mL, which is why the shelf reads large for the work.

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 18 October 2026. The miniature painting shelf is 1,439 rows: 793 containers and 646 closures. 5 mL to 9,464 mL with a median of 118; 41 containers at 15 mL or under, 115 at 30 mL or under, 228 at 60 or under and 411 at 120 or under. 430 PET, 133 HDPE, 133 glass, 87 PP, 9 steel. 487 bottles, 281 jars, 13 tubs and pails, 9 tins, 2 tubes. 143 amber or dark amber. Closures: 382 continuous thread, 43 dropper assemblies, 32 disc top, 31 child resistant, 27 dome lids, 26 spouted, 19 lug and twist, 17 flip top, 14 phenolic, 13 spice caps.

Written from 15 U.S.C. 1277, 16 CFR 1500.14(b)(8) and 16 CFR 1500.3(c)(6), and from the catalog as it stood on 18 October 2026. Where a requirement turns on a determination the Commission makes rather than on a fixed rule, this property says so. Nothing here is a toxicological review, which is the one thing in this area that cannot be done from a document.