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making emulsion resist

updated sat 19 feb 00

 

Russel Fouts on fri 18 feb 00


Ivor,

>> Unless you make your own wax resists you have now way of knowing what is
in the mixture. I use a wax resist which is an opaque white fluid and I wash
up my brushes immediately after using them. Now wax and water are sort of
incompatible unless treated with an emulsifier. The stuff I use is a water
base emulsion. Emulsions are easy to make. You can check this by floating
some olive or cooking oil on water. Shake, they do not mix. Add a pinch or
so of bicarb of soda and shake again. A white emulsion. So, it would seem as
though things can go wrong when wax emulsion is frozen or degraded
biologically. <<

Thanks for the clue Ivor! Peter Beard in his book on resist techniques talks
about wax emulsion but doesn't give any clues as to how it's made. I tried
what I though would work; finely chopped wax in salad oil mixed with a jiffy
mixer. The result was "interesting" but not wax emulsion. A bit more like
grainy Eucerine (a water, petroleum jelly emulsion hand cream).

I think I'll try melted wax, in olive oil w/"a pinch or so of bicarb of
soda" this time and see what I get.

Thanks again!

Russel

Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 223 02 75
Mobile: +32 476 55 38 75
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