Press'n Seal to help keep paint from drying out.

I have been using a product from the Grocery Store to seal off my palette from air. I think it is new, as I've never noticed it before. Called Press'n Seal by Glad. It's a sort of plastic wrap on a roll, only you can press it down to effect a pretty good seal. I started using a glass pane for a palette, and when I'm done for the day, I clean off paint that is not worth saving, then leave a few clumps of good paint. Then I spread a plastic sheet over the panel and press down around and between the clumps. Most of the air is pressed out, and the plastic stuff sticks pretty good to the glass. The paint ends up looking like the paint is vacuum packed on the palette. The next day, I take off the sheet and throw away. So far, I haven't kept paint for more than three days, so I'm not sure how far I can take it.

Hmm, sounds like a good idea. I know some people also use some type of wet palette container, where the paints are airsealed in, with water in a sponge somewhere underneath.

Anything to help keep air out will prolong the wetness of the oil. The less air the better. There's still going to be a small amount of air getting through so the paint will eventually dry out.

I use the Press-n-seal underneath the paint, myself. It makes palette clean up easier. Due to the textured surface of the plastic, the oil doesn't slide around.

That does sound neat - both the on-top and below uses. Dave, how does the Press-and-seal react to using a palette knife to scrape off just a few places without clearing off the entire palette?

Thanks for the tips, Polly and David.

Dayle

Thank you both for the the great tips! Press n' Seal is on my list for the next grocery run.

Jim wrote:

That does sound neat - both the on-top and below uses. Dave, how does the Press-and-seal react to using a palette knife to scrape off just a few places without clearing off the entire palette?

It's not much of a problem if you're careful. I've even used solvent on it to clean off a spot on the palette (when using regular oils) and it holds up well. Most of the problems I had before with oily rags in the trash (spontaneous combustion worries) came from cleaning off my palette. That's were most of the paint is. Not a problem with this stuff.

Thanks Polly and Dave.

What a great idea. I use the air-sealed pallet with a piece of glass in the bottom instead of the wet sponge, because I didn't like the way the paint got too runny the next day from the wetness. I really like the idea of covering the glass with the plastic...one more step to easier clean up.