The first bottle I tried was the FIFO bottle. FIFO stands for First In, First Out. You’ve probably seen these at Subway sandwich shops. These bottles open at both ends. In theory, you add product to the bottom of the the bottle so that the oldest product remains at the top and is used first. The bottle top has a silicone opening that is supposed to keep product in even though the bottle is inverted, and keep air out.
I used these bottles for years until I had enough. Here are the pros and cons for the FIFO bottles:
Pros
* Holds 16 ounces
* Easy to dispense paint
* Takes up less shelf space than a jar or can
Cons
* Must be stored top up as paint can leak out
* Air leaks in and thickens, or dries up the paint
* Nozzle clogs up with dried paint
* Difficult to fill without a funnel (not included)
When I got tired of having to clean out thick, gunky paint from the nozzle of the FIFO bottles, I started looking for another option. A friend recommended these with a flip top. That’s it! Or so I thought. In theory, I wanted something that could help keep the air out. So I bought a bunch of these and swapped out my paint from the FIFO bottles into these flip top bottles. These turned out to be my least favorite. Unless you get every speck of paint off both the nozzle and the underside of the lid, the lid won’t snap shut. That means that paint is exposed to air and can leak out.
Pros
* Holds 16 ounces
Cons
* Difficult to fill without spilling (no funnel included)
* Unless spout and lid are clean, lid won’t close.
* Large spout opening means less control of paint flow
After living with the issues of the flip-top bottles, I decided to try another bottle. I’d heard of people that liked the condiment squirt bottles so I decided to try that one. Instead of buying a bunch of them, I picked up one at Dollar Tree. Glad I didn’t by a bunch! It was the most difficult to fill because it had the smallest opening. It dispensed paint well and kept air out, but I had to make sure the nozzle and cap were clean so the cap would fit on.
Pros
* Holds 16 ounces
*. Dispenses paint well
* Keeps air out
Cons
* Difficult to fill (no funnel included)
* Nozzle must be clean for cap to fit right
My experience with the squirt bottles didn’t last long. I moved on to searching Amazon for another alternative. I wanted something that was easy to dispense and had a lid to protect the nozzle. I found one! Bad news is that it only came in 13 ounce sizes. My paint is pints. I was desparate so I bought some. I really liked these. They dispensed well and the lid helped protect from leaks and air. But pouring a pint of paint into the bottle meant that I had 3 ounces of paint left in the jar that I either had to use or wait until I used paint out of the bottle and refill. So now I’ve got both a bottle AND a pint sitting on the shelf.
Pros
* Dispenses paint well
* Has a lid to protect paint
Cons
* Difficult to fill (no funnel included)
* Only holds 13 ounces