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-----Water Based Glazes
I am looking to make my own glazes to use with water based paints. Does anyone have this information?
Cynthia Haggerton- Zavalla, Texas
1999
1999
There are thousands of formulas out there, many of them use compounds no longer allowed in paints. the safer paints made today are still mostly proprietary because chemists have had to work very hard to remove poisonous components.
I found a formula for what was called in the 1940's "casein water paint or distemper or tempra paint: casein binder for water paints:
lactic acid casein, 80 lbs., soda ash, 8 lbs, W.W. Rosin, powdered, 5 lbs., disodium phosphate, powdered, 5 lbs., zinc silico fluoride, 2 lbs.
Dissolve in sufficient hot water before use, and the pigments containing line are mixed with the resulting solution. Problems for the person trying to use this recipe:
1. Finding the right chemicals. (W.W. = Water White?), finding someone who would sell chemicals to an individual.
2. Knowing what to do with 2 or 5 or 50 lbs of this stuff when it starts to lump up half way through the mixing process.
3. Having any idea how this mixture should be stored, handled, or used in light of today's concern for safety. The fluoride is a problem if the paint starts to powder, or if someone chews on a painted item.
It is far better to purchase a modern paint, which has the benefit of years of science and a large organization behind it, and to add value to an object by the art of painting, than by mixing your own paints. But by all means, if someone is interested in how finishing compounds are designed and manufactured, I recommend becoming apprenticed to an artist who grinds her own paint, or obtaining a job at a paint company.
Tom Pullizzi
Falls Township, Pennsylvania
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