Two useful ways to recycle milk jugs

As I write this in late summer 2013, one of my regional
grocery stores sells half-gallons of milk for 99 cents,
while full gallons are $2.99. Naturally, we buy mostly
half-gallons.

Want to take a bite out of your molding-and-casting budget? Plastic pitchers and paint trays can add up to a decent chunk of change every week. At the paleo lab where I work, we mix casting resins in plastic containers and those will become an unusable mess within a few days. If we're pouring a lot of molds, it's possible to destroy several containers in a day.

If I were paying for those myself, I'd turn purple if I had to throw away four or five pitchers a week. Even the cheap ones are going to be a couple bucks apiece. A much better solution is to take scissors to gallon or half-gallon milk jugs.

At the lab, we mostly use gallon jugs. At home, where I generally don't have to mix as much material at once, I prefer half-gallon jugs.

Turning a milk jug into a pitcher or paint tray is easily accomplished. First, fill the jug about a third of the way with tap water, shake it up, then pour it out. Do this two or three times, then let the fluid drain from the jug. Dispose of the lid and take up a pair of sharp scissors.

Making a milk-jug paint tray

I use acrylic paints for most of the work I do both at home and at work. Some of it is good stuff, such as Liquitex, but more of it is basic craft acrylic paint such as FolkArt, Anita's or Delta Ceramcoat. Either way, when I brush it on I generally put a little paint on a plastic tray, which is easy to clean up with water when I'm finished.

Craft stores sell neat little trays with circular indentations for the paint, and they last a long time. Still, I've come to prefer this alternative.

The red Sharpie line shows where to cut the jug.

Cut with sharp scissors.



You end up with two trays, one of which has a palette-like handle.
They're easy to make, easy to use, and cheap to replace if you decide
it's gotten too messy to clean up.

Making a milk-jug pitcher

If what you want is a container to hold the casting resin, all you need to do with a milk jug is rinse it out well and then let it thoroughly drain before filling it with resin. Neither milk nor water mix with resin, so make sure it's dry.

However, the top of the milk jug is much too narrow to be easily used to mix resin and pour it into a mold. All it takes to make it workable is to cut out a little bit of plastic.

The red Sharpie line shows where I plan to cut. Adjust as desired
to make the pitcher either shallower or deeper. Don't go too shallow,
though, or the pitcher will be flimsy.

Here's what you end up with after the jug is cut. There's probably
a use for the little bit of plastic at right, but I couldn't say
what it is so I dispose of it.

A quick pinch of the plastic where the fluid will pour makes the stream
tighter, easier to control.

The final product. It's useful for mixing casting resins or for a variety
of other purposes.