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DIY spray paint

Step 7Spray

spray
With your bottle pressurized all that's left is to find a surface to paint! It should go without saying that spray painting people, pets, plants and places that don't belong to you is not nice. Also, it's probably illegal. So be smart when you use this.

My pressurization lasted enough to make the dinosaur shown here and then some, a second pressurization was required to make the buildings. If you're looking to make a larger art installment you'll need to carry your bike pump with you.

Here's a video of my DIY spray paint in action!

Have fun!


Have you made your own spray paint using this method? Post a picture or video link in the comments below and earn yourself a digital patch and a 3-month Pro Membership to Instructables.com!
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14 comments
Dec 21, 2011. 7:16 PMAndaleTheGreat says:
I'm gonna do this for a 2 liter and then see if i can find a way to do it with a hose.
Dec 4, 2011. 10:59 AMtotszwai says:
Is there a way to improve the spray pattern? It looks like a water gun spray. Would increasing the pressure help with a more even/spread-out pattern?
Dec 21, 2011. 7:14 PMAndaleTheGreat says:
i would try mixing it with a little water for acrylic/latex or mineral spirits for oil base.
I have a large airless sprayer and on most paint cans there are instructions as to how to mix it for spraying. something like 1/2 a cup to a gallon for primer i think.
Dec 5, 2011. 1:42 AMpedrobedro says:
I saw your artwork and came to the conclusion that you are Red John :) It looks handy for spraying lubricant and it would be handy to have an aerosol of cleaning fluid like brake cleaner which can be refilled.
Dec 21, 2011. 7:11 PMAndaleTheGreat says:
agreed, especially since buying your garage lubes/sprays are MUCH cheaper in larger containers that are not compressed.
Dec 10, 2011. 6:16 PMdfuller1 says:
Cleverly designed and built, an interesting read. Thank you! You may also be interested to know that you can buy something similar commercially made of aluminum and rated up to 90 psi for around $20 US.
Dec 7, 2011. 6:18 PMnoahhauser says:
I like your idea I will have to try this
Dec 1, 2011. 10:10 AMDAG1030 says:
Great idea! I heard soda bottles are rated for 180 psi. I have had some up to 80 or so psi without any bottle deformation.
Dec 4, 2011. 10:30 AMGreenD says:
what were you doing with 80 psi bottles ;) (i think I k now!)

And 80 psi is usually attributed to a insertion of the bike tire pump anyways - although cutting the hole in the cap will be your weak point. If you use an epoxy for the cap and then a liquid metal on the outside of that I'm sure it will hold fine at 50-80.

Would be interesting if someone came up with a mechanism to add paint to the bottle so you don't have to make omg yuou just unscrew the CAP! AMAZING.
Dec 1, 2011. 10:50 AMilpug says:
Same here, but this design requires cutting the bottle and cap, so it creates weak points in the bottle. I would say 50psi max?
Dec 8, 2011. 11:21 AMJBantha says:
Perhaps you can make a double cap with a Y pvc fitting removing the hole at the bottle side.
Dec 8, 2011. 5:15 PMilpug says:
Huh... that is a really good idea. although you might want to use a tee fitting instead of a y so the spray tip is vertical instead of tilted. It would make it easier to use. I will explore the possibility.
Dec 5, 2011. 3:18 AMDAG1030 says:
I drilled the cap and pulled a valve stem through. I did a gas dissolving lab with my students. I took water with a universal indicator and pressurized with carbon dioxide. The students would shake the bottle to help dissolve the gas into the water. The carbon dioxide creates a weak acid. The more that dissolves, the more the color change. The students would record ph vs pressure and plot it on a graph. Of course, I wanted to make sure it was safe before hand so I tested the set up before I tried it with my students. It worked like a charm!

Dec 3, 2011. 2:28 AMkondzio29 says:
Nice! I made a bottle with smoth paint spray
Dec 4, 2011. 1:29 AMkondzio29 says:
my spray is very ugly and i dont have pictures of it BUT I'm makin new one and when i finish I'll post pictures and maybe a video

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Author:mikeasaurus(michaelsaurus.com)
I'm the Play Editor here at Instructables! I like mixing old ideas with new and reusing things not for their intended purpose; the results are sometimes messy but always fun. I also write the thrift-...
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