Can you change the colour of an opened paint can?

[ekell]

I recently bought a 4L tin of Night Sky in exterior paint. I've since realised that I don't like it, and I prefer the Monument colour we have elsewhere. Mostly it's because when it rains, you can see the streaks and dirt on the Night Sky, but not so much on Monument.

I still have 3/4 tin of Night Sky left. Is it possible to have it tinted to Monument? I know there's a very technical mathematical and colour equation behind it, so hoping someone can just tell me if it's possible based on how the colours are formulated. 

Appreciate all help! I don't live near a Bunnings so it's a bit of a trip to go in, and the lovely young man on the phone did not sound confident in his "yeah maybe? It depends". 

[Akanksha]

Great to see you make your first post on the Bunnings Workshop community page, @ekell! Trust you've been finding the site useful and inspiring.

Thanks for your question. I'm sure our resident D.I.Y. expert @EricL will be happy to assist you when he's back online later today. In the meantime, let me tag our ever-helpful members @Peggers, @jemma11 and @Dave-1 to see if they have any thoughts.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

Akanksha

[Dave-1]

Morning @ekell 

Welcome to the Bunnings community page You just may find an answer in here!

My first thought was oh oh and then Ive thought of the paint staff I have come across over the years at different paint stores. Some are pretty good at figuring out what may be needed and I remember an instance of standing next to a "customer being warned that the colour modification may not come out as expected" But the customer was willing to risk it.

The more I think the question through with you Having used 1/4 of the paint, it would make it difficult to match exactly and if you are already trying to match an existing colour Id prob suggest to cut your losses and start with a new can of paint. Not the greatest suggestion but id hate to have to repaint the area afterwards 😕

Dave

[ekell]

Thanks so much for the quick reply! Honestly, 1/4 is probably overstating it, I painted about 2 metres of a colourbond fence and it's a 4L tin. Although I'm trying to broadly match the Monument I have on my deck, I'm looking at painting the front fence and they won't be right up against each other so I think I might be okay with risking it. I'll double check how much I've used. Good to know it's possible though, thanks!

[EricL]

Hi @ekell 

It's great that you've received excellent advice from @Dave-1. I definitely suggest speaking to the paint specialist of your local store so that they can have a look at the amount of paint left in the can. Only they will be able to tell you if the paint can still be modified. Unfortunately, it's not something that can be easily discussed over the phone. 

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Eric

[jemma11]

Thanks for the tag @Akanksha . I’m very much a ‘throw some colours together and see what happens kind of a girl’, so I’d probably follow the previous advice to go to the paint desk and see what they can do if you’re trying to match a specific colour.  If they can’t help, I’d certainly try it.  As long as it’s the same type of paints that you’re mixing.