I used to work at a parts store and they were throwing away a quart of clear because some marvel mystery oil(I think, some type of oil/lubricant) had spilled on top of the can. I took the quart of clear home with me and it's set on a shelf since, That was around 3 years ago.

Can I not spray some brake cleaner on the can and use it? Too much of a risk?

Depends on what you plan to use it for. If nothing important then clean the can before opening it. Once open look at the contents. It should be clear with no signs of contamination.
Now if you are wanting to use it on something your really care about I would buy new. After all it is only a quart, you didn't pay for it, so you aren't going to lose anything.

Yeah i just want to use it for practice on a test panel or something. It makes sense that should be able to see contamination.

'68 Coronet R/T wrote:Depends on what you plan to use it for. If nothing important then clean the can before opening it. Once open look at the contents. It should be clear with no signs of contamination.
Now if you are wanting to use it on something your really care about I would buy new. After all it is only a quart, you didn't pay for it, so you aren't going to lose anything.

THIS ^^^^ don't for get you will probably need the activator also.
A little story here, a friend was cleaning his shop and gave me some paint supplies he had. one item was a 3/4 gallon of lacquer thinner. A couple of weeks later I was doing a small job with some lacquer I had. so I grabbed the gallon of lacquer thinner my good buddy gave me and went to mix my lacquer, well it wouldn't mix. so a couple of days later i'm talking to him and ask about the lacquer thinner, did he put something else in it? yes he said I emptied some other thinner cans into it ( enamel reducer and who no's what ) what's the problem its all thinner! the moral of the story is DON,T EVER use any paint supplies from some one that have been opened.
Jay D.

Yeah, this cans never been open.