quick question about flow extender

[uberdark]

how many drops should i put into a full bottle of gw paint? or how do you guys use it?

 

[War Griffon]

Do you mean Flow Enhancer/Aid as in the stuff that W & N do???

If so I make it up as per the instructions and keep it in a sealed bottle. I then have a dropper bottle that I got from a perfume shop and I keep that for every day use.

I use one drop per old GW brush ful of paint or there abouts depending on how thick/thin I want the paint mix to be, I rarely use water for mixing these days.

I do sometimes add a good amount of teh mixed solution into GW paints when they are starting to dry up a bit but again this is a mixed up water/enhancer rather than straight enhancer.

 

[mattrock]

yeah...you wanna be careful not to do too much more than the bottle recommends because it can retard your paint to the point that it will seemingly never dry.

I have W&N and I think I have it about 25% solution in water in a dropper bottle. Does the trick.

 

[uberdark]

i dont know....but i am using liquitex slow-dri blending medium. i am mixing a bit at a time and am getting some great results. it has no directions but to add the chemical to it. my mini is drying a slight bit glossy but other than that it is fine. i just want to put it into my bottles and not worry about mixing it each time i make a new color.

 

[Ritual]

Liquitex Slo-dri is a retarder or extender (i.e. extends the drying time), and it won\'t affect how the paint adhers or spreads out on a surface (at least not very much, and it\'s not its purpose). So, don\'t confuse it with a flow enhancer.

I have Liquitex Slo-dri (I use it very rarely... only when I want to do long sessions with the same mix) and IIRC my bottle says one drop of slo-dri to every 4-5 drops of paint.

 

[War Griffon]

As ritual says :yes:

Don\'t confuse it with flow aid or enhancer.

 

[QuietiManes]

i dont know....but i am using liquitex slow-dri blending medium. i am mixing a bit at a time and am getting some great results. it has no directions but to add the chemical to it. my mini is drying a slight bit glossy but other than that it is fine. i just want to put it into my bottles and not worry about mixing it each time i make a new color.

I think that\'s why most people mix their flow extender, improver, whatever all else is in their special mix, in their water bottle they use to thin their paints. The downsides for this method are 1>you\'ll probably want to get a dropper bottle (only a downside if you don\'t like dropper bottles) or at least a paint pot for your water and 2>it will affect your paint differently depending on how much of your water mix you use to thin your paints, so it can become a little unreliable when doing different things and also 3>you usually need to make sure your WATER is mixed up...which is just odd to my way of thinking. Lastly, 4>some things don\'t last that long once you start mixing them up, if you rarely paint, like me, could be a wasteful practice. I think most of the more widely used things last more than long enough after mixing, but I\'ve seen a few that don\'t last more than a few days.

I\'m lazy so I think it\'s still the best option, plus it\'s probably more reliable and less wasteful than mixing each puddle of paint you use with your additives, which eliminates all the real downsides, as far as I can see.

 

[Einion]

Uber, I would recommend you not add this to your paint pots. Better to make a solution of the flow aid and keep it in an airtight jar, using that to thin your paints (best to use distilled water for this if you can get it). It\'s probably easier to control proportions this way. If you have to use water from the tap or bottled water there\'s a chance the made-up solution will spoil over time so you might want to do this in small batches in that case.

Originally posted by Ritual
Liquitex Slo-dri is a retarder or extender (i.e. extends the drying time), and it won\'t affect how the paint adhers or spreads out on a surface (at least not very much...

It so will - retarders, if used in excess, cause paint not to dry properly. This is the reason they generally come with express instructions on how much to add (sometimes being specific as to amounts in relation to specific colours).

Here\'s the breakdown on the Liquitex site.

Einion

 

[Ritual]

Originally posted by Einion

Originally posted by Ritual
Liquitex Slo-dri is a retarder or extender (i.e. extends the drying time), and it won\'t affect how the paint adhers or spreads out on a surface (at least not very much...

It so will - retarders, if used in excess, cause paint not to dry properly. This is the reason they generally come with express instructions on how much to add (sometimes being specific as to amounts in relation to specific colours).

I was referring to the way, let\'s say, a flow enhancer affects the paint. I know perfectly well the slo-dri stuff affects the paint, or it would be quite useless.

I definitely agree that under no circumstances mix this into your paint pots. Only use when you need it!