Cheap supermarket baby powder works well for thickening chalky emulsion paints.

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Not your average framer
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Cheap supermarket baby powder works well for thickening chalky emulsion paints.

Post by Not your average framer »

Cheap supermark baby powder (talc) is really cheap. I like to shake some bit by bit into a small plastic tub into which I have put some Craig and Rose chalky emusion paint. I generally buy this paint in match pots, as the 25 litre tin are a bit wasteful, when the inside of the tin starts going rusty, before you have had time to use all in the tin. The perforated shaker lid is useful as it gives me a simple and easy way to add some baby powder bit by bit. I sometimes like to use thick acrylic paint to mix with the chalky emulsion paint.

However, like to make up a sandable primer, when I'm stuck with some chalky emsulsion left overs that need using up. Adding a bit of bably powder, but not too much makes quite a good primer from older pots of paint which won't keep much longer. It is also chear as chips, I like to add a hint of colour to adjust the colour a bit at times. If I am going to use this where I need a liitle extra durability, I like to add some acrylic paint as well. I only mix up enough to suit the amount that I need for each current job as I don't know how long it will keep for.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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Re: Cheap supermarket baby powder works well for thickening chalky emulsion paints.

Post by prospero »

I mix my primer in 2.5 ltr tubs which are readily available and cheap. It's just ripple paint with a squirt of
Raw Umber acrylic to take the white down a notch or two.

I also use smaller tubs to mix up batches of colours in acrylic. These generally get used quickly, but last at least
a couple of years if you keep the lids on tight, :D
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Re: Cheap supermarket baby powder works well for thickening chalky emulsion paints.

Post by Not your average framer »

Hi Peter,

I already buy some chalky emulsion paint in match pots and use them mixed 50/50 with acrylic paints, Unfortunately the self life of the match pots is pretty useless, once the pot has been opening as from time to time I mix up the remains of a few left over match pots and add a bit of cheap exterior emulsion to make up the volume a bit. The exterior emulsion is also definately acrylic based, being an exterior emulsion, but I don't like my primer to be to thin, so sometimes I want to cheaply make it a little thicker which is quick, easy and cheap with a shake or two of baby powder.

Talk is funny stuff and I find that the is a limit to how much talk, it is good to add to the paint, if the paint is going to be easy to apply and be fully durable after it ha set. Fortunately I don't want to thicked the paint up to much as I like it to be not so thick that the brush stroke will easily flow out, without the paint being too running. Also too much talk is not helpful if you want togive the surface a quich sanding over. There does seem to be an optimum amount of talk for best results.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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Re: Cheap supermarket baby powder works well for thickening chalky emulsion paints.

Post by vintage frames »

Mark - this is bonkers!

Why do you need to complicate life like this? All these modern paints, emulsions, chalk paints etc, they're all 'plasticlty' and will give all sorts of grief when trying to sand smooth.
If you want a simple and cheap grain-fill primer then use what I've already told you to.

Plain white PVA and whiting.

But I get the feeling that's too simple.
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Not your average framer
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Re: Cheap supermarket baby powder works well for thickening chalky emulsion paints.

Post by Not your average framer »

I know, but for a long while I was using up my old stuff when I was too ill and too skint to do much else. I only operate on a limited stock of small paint tins as my shop is so small and I don't have much space for much else. I'm still not very well now either and although I can now drive my car again, I still struggle to walk to and from the car. Walking back to the car, using my quad stick is quite difficult and carrying items which I have bought back to the car as well is quite dangerous from me. small tins are much more managable for me.

My car lives in a car park, which is about three quarters of a mile via a steep uneven path and if I fall over there is no one to help me up again. It's not very easy the front door to my flat just leads into a paasageway into our back garden and our flat is out of range of a wireless doorbell and is built with three and a half thick cob walls, so even if I could get an old fashioned door bell, which I could run a wire for into the flat, drilling a hole fo the bell wire needs a very long dill. We have been trying to manage like this for about four years and we just do our best.

I walk around my shop hanging onto benches and shelves, because I can hardly walk. If I fall over, I normally can not manage to get up without someone to help me. Lot of things which I used to manage to do by hand are not done with machinery instead. I am getting better, but it's a long slow old road. I only have somwhat limited use of the right arm and my right legs. I still have a right handed brain, but I'm doing all the important stuff with my left hand. Unfortunately I still need to wrie with my right hand, which is not very sucessful for me.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
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Re: Cheap supermarket baby powder works well for thickening chalky emulsion paints.

Post by fusionframer »

Pva and Whiting can both be delivered to your door. (Or a neighbour)

Tbh, and i don't want to sound mean, but you really need to consider retiring. If you are honest, you have not reopened your shop in 3 years. If you are struggling as much as you say above, then you really should not be operating tools and machinery.

You have said previously that continuing to work is not a financial necessity and even if you have low overheads, you can't be making a profit.

This is just my opinion, with a heart attack and 2 strokes in the past, as well as your wife recovering, if you are going to continue, you do need to keep it simple. Get a website, take orders and deliver order. Do what you know, don't spend your energy trying new things that aren't going to turn a profit when you don't have much energy.

In the last year, you have come up with loads of ideas, but if you have struggled to get into you shop (and that is not set up and ready to go), how many of these ideas have you tried?

Like i said, don't want to seem mean, but i reckon I am only saying what most people on here are thinking (if not, then i am just git and i apologise). You need to look after your wife and yourself.

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Re: Cheap supermarket baby powder works well for thickening chalky emulsion paints.

Post by Rainbow »

I’m in awe at your determination, Mark - I’ve never known anybody with such determination in the face of such difficult health circumstances. But I didn’t realise just how difficult walking was for you, or that you wouldn’t be able to get up if you fell. As Nick says, when tools and machinery are involved, that is a really dangerous environment for someone who does not have full control of their arms and legs. I feel as if there’s an accident waiting to happen, and how will your wife manage if you are further incapacitated through an accident? Nobody intends to have an accident, we all think we’re taking suitable H&S precautions - until perhaps a split-second lapse in concentration and it happens. I know from your posts that you want to keep your mind and body active, but surely there must be other ways of doing that which don’t jeopardise your safety?

Please don’t leave it too late to retire. If you leave it too late, it will be too overwhelming to deal with clearing out your shop. Wouldn't it be better to put whatever energy you’ve got into releasing yourself from all the pressure of re-starting your shop and running a business. It’s absolutely true what they say about one door closing and another one opening, and I don’t know anybody who has retired who isn’t 100% glad to have done so.

I know it’s not my place to give unasked-for advice, but I’ve never let that stop me. :D Good luck, whatever you decide to do.
Not your average framer
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Re: Cheap supermarket baby powder works well for thickening chalky emulsion paints.

Post by Not your average framer »

I don't walk well on uneven sufaces. The surfaces in my shop are o.k.but the path to the car park worries me a little when I am by myself, whch is why I like to get someone to go with me, so that I'm not alone. I have a wheeled walker which I can use when I am out and about on a flat surface, but I live on a hill and although I can use this to carry shoping, I really don't like using it on a slope, without someone with me. During the lockdowns I slowed down a lot and need to walk about much more to get my mobility back. So going back to working and doing the ocassional bit of shop is what I need to be doing to re-build my muscules and my mobilty, I've done it once before after one of the lockdowns, but now I have to do it again. It's a slow process as althogh I can manage walking down the street, I need a bit more practice to lift my right foot enough when going up the street to head back home, This means that I have to take a rest every now and then walking up the street. I just need to keep getting back into shape. I be much better in a few weeks!

DVLA revoked my license and after a lot of practice, I was able to get a full driving license again, I don't supose that most people I know ever though that would happen, but like they say, you not beaten until your beaten. I just kept going and I took the diabled driving assessment and passed. So I keep on going! I'm not dead yet, so why should I give up? I've got plenty of grab handles in my shop and in my flat, some I've got things to hang on to as I move about. I'm not that frightened and I'm getting much better as I get back to trying to be more mobile and every step forward is an encouragement to do more, so it's onward and upward. I've heard it said that anything which does kill you only make you stronger! I've learnt to walk again, learnt to speak properly again, learnt to write again, learnt to spell again and learnt to drive again using an approved disabled adapted vehicle, so I reckon that I'm on a roll, so I'll just keep uo going right now! I'm told that those who give up after a sroke don't tend to live very long, so no going back for me!
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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