What’s the Best Way to Save Your Left-Over Runny Paint?

The problem:

Everyone knows how – if you leave your glass paint uncovered overnight – it’ll dry out. Which slows you down next time you paint again.

So everyone knows to cover and seal their lump of paint.

But that’s just the first thing you should do.

A quick reminder

In the last post Stephen mentioned how, when it’s hot, he often double-seals his lump of paint like this which keeps it really fresh and ready-to-go for when he needs it.

That solves the problem for the lump.

But what do you do with the paint you’re actually using? With your reservoir? With the paint you’re tracing with, or flooding?

If you think it’s an option to scrape it up and store it with your lump, think twice.

And read about this test which I wrote a while back.

You see, the runny paint will run.

And when it runs, it’ll stop your cover from sealing properly with your palette. Which means the seal will be imperfect. Which means your lump of paint will dry.

And this will waste your time and money.

The answer

The answer is: a separate cover.

So you have one cover for the lump. You seal it some dirty water from your rinsing jar. And maybe a bit of extra paint: this is because the seal needs gum Arabic to work really well.

Plus you also need a large cover for your runny paint:

A small cover for your lump of paint, a large cover for your runny paint

Quick, simple, and very effective

What will this do for you?

By keeping your lump separate from your runny paint, you’ll keep your lump in good condition.
By covering your runny paint, you’ll protect it from dust.
It won’t take much time to activate your runny paint: just wet your knife and grind it for a minute.

And, with your paint in good condition, you’ll find it far easier to paint exactly as you want to.