How To Fix Dry Paint By Numbers

Acrylic paint is easy-to-use, versatile, and h2o-soluble paint. Thus, it's no wonder that information technology'southward a pop art medium. Everyone can use information technology for fun and relaxation as you don't demand special skills to be able to utilise it. Some artists and hobbyists may shop some paints and find out dried out acrylic paints. If this happens to you, learning how to rehydrate acrylic pigment is the solution.

Fifty-fifty though acrylic paint is water-soluble yous can but rehydrate acrylic pigment that has some moisture and is still glossy. You can dilute acrylic with warm water or acrylic flow addition. In one case acrylics dry you cannot rehydrate or reactivate the paint.

This commodity volition guide you on rehydrating dry acrylic paint and even prevent information technology from drying out. Read on to save the stale upwards paint! I will go over easy methods, some risky DIY ways, and extra tips for keeping pigment from drying. I volition be honest with you and tell if I think it is a good or bad method to try.

Why is my acrylic dried out or hard?

Acrylics are water-based with pigments floating in resin. The evaporation of h2o causes the acrylic to dry and grade a plastic-like motion-picture show on the surface. This process makes acrylic pigment water-resistant and not washable and it takes simply upwards to 30 min.

Reasons why y'all have hardened acrylic pigment:

The sometime pigment was exposed to a lot of air. This issue besides takes place when yous forget to put the lid back on.
Direct sunlight or extreme temperature (both cold and farthermost heat) gets into the area where the paint is stored.
You lot may have failed to mix the paint properly before apply.
An excessive amount of water was added to the paint before application.
Putting likewise much pigment on the palette as acrylic paint tin dry in merely a matter of ten to twenty minutes.
Paint with depression quality will likely dry out even if information technology's still in the pigment container every bit it has a meager amount of pigments and no-proper noun binders.

How to rehydrate acrylic paint (all methods upfront):

✅ Warm h2o
✅ Fluid medium
❌ DIY flow assist medium (risky, I exercise not recommend, but people all the same practice information technology)
✅ Flow addition
❌Toothbrushing dried pigment with water or alcohol (risky, I exercise not recommend, only people withal do information technology)
❌Add oil paints (risky, I do not recommend it, but people still practise information technology)
❌Add acetone (risky, I do not recommend, but people still do it)
❌Household Method with soda (risky, I do not recommend, but people yet exercise it)
❌Microwave (risky, I exercise not recommend, only people still practice information technology)
❌Add fresh paint and mix in blender
✅ Sanding (to fix stale pigment on canvas)
✅ Glazing liquid
✅ Gesso
✅ Pouring medium

So ultimately, most of DIY methods recommended online won't work. I understand people said it worked for them, but if nosotros truly understand the composition of acrylic (polymer, pigment, preservatives, water) we won't add dishwasher to it and expect it to be artist-form make new paint. Permit's stay rational, my friends!

Let'due south look at each method in detail and you tin decide for yourself whether to try in or not! If yous tried something else and it worked, email me!

How to rehydrate acrylic pigment if it is besides hard/thick

Don't lose promise when you see your acrylic paint that turned dense, and heavy. There's a adventure to revive it with warm water and a flow add-on as long every bit the paint has a little moisture in it.

This method also helps if you lot think you accept thick heavy body paint and you want to make information technology more fluid.

1 – A driblet or more of warm water

Warm h2o is like a magical potion in restoring acrylic paint that turns hard and clumpy. It doesn't only piece of work wonders but it doesn't thin out the paint. The temperature of water improves the pigment'due south solubility.

After calculation a drop of warm water, stir the pigment with a pocket-size toothpick or a wooden stick. If you feel information technology is not enough, add together little more than water. It's best to allow it sit overnight and check the outcome the following day. Before you lot leave information technology, make sure that the pods are tightly sealed to prevent air from messing it up.

Read also: How to Thin Acrylic Paint: 3 Correct Means & 3 Dont's

Brand sure to not add together more than 25-xxx% of water to your pigment,if yous will add together as well much water you volition end upwards with watery paint.

This method may not work with cloth acrylic pigment.

2 – Menstruation improver

Using a flow add-on is one way to put hardened or thick acrylic paint into utilize. Unlike warm h2o, flow assistance mediums don't break acrylic paint composition and only meliorate the consistency.

Y'all can directly mix it with paint or set a cup with water to wet your paintbrush and put a few drops of flow addition in it. This is done before you lot start painting.

The Max ratio is 25% of flow aid to paint.

Dip your castor into the cup and then into your paint. You'll observe that the brush moves smoothly over the painting surface. But you should be enlightened that flow improver thins the paint and information technology may plough more transparent.

If these methods didn't work your paint is not but thick, information technology started to really dry out, the hard paint doesn't take a bit of moisture left.

Read as well: How to Fix Lumpy & Chunky Acrylic Paint? [10 Easy Methods]

vii Ways How to rehydrate stale Out acrylic paint

There are several ways to rehydrate drying acrylic paint that still contains some moisture. Drying pigment may go lumpy and rubbery, it volition spread unevenly on the painting surface. Sometimes you lot can fix it past mixing it well with a palette knife, but if information technology doesn't work, check one of the methods beneath.

3 – Add fluid acrylic medium

The simplest way of rehydrating acrylic paint is by calculation a liquid acrylic medium. Liquitex offers archival matte or gloss fluid mediums that assistance improve the blending and flow of the paint.

Yous can commencement with a small amount of pigment and mix the medium. You should know that this mixture makes the color more transparent compared to the original paint. Don't add more than than 1/4 part to 1 part of the paint.

4 – Water or alcohol with a toothbrush

Commonly, y'all should avoid thinning h2o-based pigment with alcohol. Only some crafters report that it helped rehydrate dried paint. I would first effort the same with water.

Y'all demand isopropyl alcohol (50% to 99%) and an old unused toothbrush.

Dip the toothbrush into the h2o or alcohol. It would give yous 20 to 30 drops of the said liquid which is enough for 100 ml of paint.

After calculation water or alcohol, gently rub the brush to encourage rehydration. The goal is to make the paint spread evenly on the surface during application.

When rehydrating dried acrylic paint, you have to pay attention to its consistency. That's why you accept to gradually add water. Excessive amounts can make the paint weak. It leads to blooming, an effect where you can't control the spreading of the paint on the canvas.

Alternatively you tin merely add a few drops of isopropyl to your pigment jar, and then add warm water. And mix it with wooden stirring stick.

five – Making a mixture with oil paint

Some other DIY and risky method, that still exists out in that location, is to add together oil paint.

Well, normally, mixing oil and acrylic is a bad idea as we all know it is practically impossible to mix oil and water, one volition sit down on superlative of the other, and so the mixture will be separated inside the container.

Still, my swain crafters successfully restored the body of the acrylic paint with oils. Just you have to know that the colors of the acrylic paint will change once you add the oil paint.

6 – Acrylic glazing liquid

If you want to add together gloss and rehydrate your acrylic pigment at the aforementioned time, go acrylic glazing liquid. It is primary function is to extend the drying time which is exactly what nosotros need! Liquitex and Gilded both have great options in satin or gloss finishes.

You'll only need a modest amount of this liquid to revive your stale pigment – one/iv part max. In addition, you lot have the liberty to add more if y'all desire to intensify the colour or the gloss.

7 – Gesso

Gesso is mainly used to prime canvases and it is a white, grey, or black thin medium. Gesso is akin to white acrylic paint but information technology'southward on the thinner side.

Put some of the drying paint on the palette and some corporeality of gesso. Mix so y'all tin come up with the texture that's great for painting.

8 – Home-made flow help

Y'all'll need: rinse assistance liquid dishwasher and distilled h2o

A half teaspoon of the dishwasher and a small-scale corporeality of h2o should be mixed properly.
Combine this mixture with the stale paint and stir them gently to achieve an fifty-fifty texture.

Nonetheless, I would similar to say that this is 100% DIY and I would non recommend it to utilize with artist-class expensive paints or for paintings you lot are planning to sell. Simply because nobody tin guarantee how durable this mix volition exist after it dries.

ix – Pouring medium

Pouring medium reduces the tension and makes acrylic pigment fluid and durable. There are dozens of pouring mediums on the market, from well-branded Floetrol to mucilage-based affordable Mont Marte pouring medium.

Each pouring medium has its ain best ratio for mixing pouring paint, only we don't need to follow information technology as we are not creating easy-to-menstruum pigment, nosotros but demand to rehydrate our dried acrylics. Start by adding a few drops and non more than than 25% of the pouring medium to the pigment. Unless you really want to arrive flow.

10 – Household products

You will need regular odorless hand sanitizer, petty fleck of warm water, and footling fleck of baking powder.

Mix it well with paint, I would add water last.

2 Methods on How to soften hard acrylic paints in Tube

Acrylic pigment may not only be stale out on the palette just it rarely can dry out in the tube. The almost common reasons are improper storage, lid non tightly closed, or brusque shelf life of poor quality pigment.

To exist honest, I would buy new paint, only you can still endeavour to save it with some experimental methods:

11 – Mix Fresh and Dried acrylic paint and a blender

Yes! Fresh acrylic paint can exist mixed with the dry one but you'll need a blender. Merely mix the same brand, as you don't know exactly the composition of all brands and how they volition interact.

Yous will need an airtight container where yous can store newly mixed pigment.

Cut the tube to access the dried pigment.
Suspension the difficult acrylic paint into chunks.
Put the fresh acrylic paint into the blender before the hard chunks. This is to ensure that no chunks can be missed past the blender and that the color becomes smooth.
Add together a little amount of water for dilution and blend to fifty-fifty out everything.

12 – Microwave

Yes, some crafters came up with this thought. I would not guarantee that it volition work and the acrylic paint volition definitely lost its archival qualities if you will put it in heat.

If you are risky, you lot can endeavour:

Cut the tube
Transfer dried paint to the microwave-safe container
Add a piddling flake of water
Microwave for 30 seconds and stir.

13 – Acetone (Risky)

If the acrylic paint is hard as a stone, yous need acetone, a kind of thinner. This substance can soften dry, difficult acrylic paint. Due to its alcoholic content, acetone can gradually break downwardly thickened substances.

But you don't want your difficult chunks of acrylic paint to completely dissolve, make sure yous follow the i:3 ratio of acetone to acrylic paint which is enough to soften the stale paint.

Once you take followed the recommended ratio, y'all can place it in a container to shake or stir. Give information technology some time until the mixture turns into a thick, evened-out substance.
Thoroughly mix the two substances up to the lesser part of the container. You have to avoid having some parts thinner than the others.
Yous should know that the alcohol content in the acetone speeds up the drying of acrylic paint fifty-fifty if it'due south in storage. Store it in an open area or somewhere with expert ventilation. Your acrylic pigment shouldn't be exposed to temperature subsequently adding acetone. Again, it's to prevent the pigment from drying in no time.

Notwithstanding, as with alcohol, acetone and other solvents are not ideal for acrylics. I would not take a chance it, but I know that crafters all the same do that.

How to ready stale paint on a canvas

Making a mistake on a canvas is inevitable and it even happens to the most experienced and cautious individuals. Acrylics are fast-drying and sometimes 10 minutes is non enough to do what you wanted and you may terminate up with dried paint on sheet. Acrylics cannot be reactivated simply with water.

Unfortunately, if you accept a few dry layers of acrylic pigment, there is not much nosotros can exercise, but sanding may actually piece of work perfectly! The easiest is to try and cover upwardly some mistakes with accents or new thin layer. The virtually desperate method, if the area that needs to be stock-still is to big, y'all may have to scrape the painting completely.

Read also: How To Set up Croaky Acrylic Painting in 3 Like shooting fish in a barrel Means

14 – Sanding

Yous'll need:

Denatured alcohol
Paper towel
Light grind sandpaper (no more than 150)
Mask
Damp cloth

Make sure the painting is completely dry.
Put a small amount of denatured alcohol on a paper towel. Fold the towel into a suitable size. Wipe the intended department of the canvas and wait until the booze softens the dried paint and so you can correct mistakes.
Once information technology'southward dry out, sand the surface area lightly to create a rough texture for the paint to cling on. Since you lot'll exist exposed to sanding and alcohol, put on a mask so y'all won't inhale whatsoever tiny particles.
After sanding, use a damp cloth to get rid of the dust.
When the corrected surface area is dry out, y'all tin begin painting.

How to Proceed acrylic paint from drying out

i) Don't forget to return the caps of tubes and containers

Clasp little chip of paint and immediately return the caps to the tubes and containers. They should be tight enough non to let air within.

Even 30-60 min without a lid can let paint dry out.

If you lot have leftover paint, and the lid on the tube isn't working, transfer the paint into an airtight container and add little water.

Related: How Long Does Acrylic Paint Accept to Dry? 30 Brands Drying Time

2) Having a covered workplace

The outdoor mood tin inspire some people to paint. Sadly, elements like sunshine, air, and even occasional breeze hands dry out upwards acrylic paint. Since you've been warned, you have to prioritize painting indoors in a well ventilated area.

Withal, yous may paint outdoors but within the specified fourth dimension. To avoid straight sunlight, you tin go out and paint in the early mornings or late afternoons.

three) Proper storage of paint

Proper storage makes a big difference in preventing your paint from drying out. You take to put your tubes, and jars or containers away from sunlight and loftier temperature. The ideal temperature when storing acrylic pigment is from 21 to 32 degrees Celsius. In terms of humidity, it should non be over 75%.

The pigment tubes should be stored vertically with their caps upwards. This manner will block the bubbles from forming in the pigment.

If you store your paint in bottles, add balls in them. Mixing balls help evenly mix paint when y'all shake the bottle and brand paint last longer.

four) Putting a pocket-sized corporeality of pigment on the palette

Remember that acrylic paint can dry upward in a few minutes so just put a small amount of paint on the palette. This is how you tin avoid wasting paint as well. Yous can e'er add and mix more subsequently.

Keep your palette always clean.

5) Using helpful items

You can depend on some helpful items to prevent your acrylic paint from drying. They tin save y'all time and effort by restoring stale paint.

Stay-wet palette – This palette has a layer of absorbent paper that is equivalent to a water reservoir. There'due south also a grease-proof newspaper that blocks h2o from mixing with the pigment. You tin purchase one or make i.

Delight, ever keep stay moisture palettes clean and don't soak it h2o. It tin encourage mold growth and the palette can easily tear autonomously when using a palette knife.

Deadening-drying acrylic mediums – By using a slow-drying medium, you extend the working fourth dimension of paint and it will stay wet longer.

Read: 15 Proven Ways How to Make Acrylic Paint Dry Slower & Homemade Acrylic Pigment Retarder Recipe

FAQ section

How to fix dry out paint from your pigment by number kit?

Paint by numbers kit includes acrylic paint in small cups with loose lids. But yous'll find some dry colors that can cleft or flake. You can gear up it with a drop or a niggling warm water. Another way to loosen the paint is to spray warm h2o. A brush or palette knife can assist you scrape the dried paint on the sides.

Besides water, period assistance add-on or thinners can be used to fix the dry out pigment from your paint-past-numbers kit.

A blow dryer can turn the pigment into liquid, specially if you're painting in a humid place. Give a 6-inch gap between the pigment and the dryer. Let the heat from the blower piece of work on the dried pigment for a few minutes. Information technology should be washed before you start with your project and you may need to repeat information technology while yous're painting.

Brands like MyPaintNumbers even offer to replace your dried paints.

Can yous reactivate acrylic pigment with water?

You lot can reactivate acrylic paint with water as long as it has a fleck of moisture left in information technology. Adding water should exist done slowly and no more than than i/3 of the volume of the pigment.

Merely sparse, stale layers of acrylic pigment can't exist reactivated with water. That'southward why it's important to clean the palette after use.

What to practice with former acrylic paint?

Acrylic pigment can be kept unopened for ten years. Equally mentioned, you tin can revive stale paint with water, a flow improver or fluid additive. Merely some circumstances won't allow information technology. You cannot actually see acrylic paint elapse, merely when the paint is opened and left unattended for 2 to 3 years, mold tin can develop or it volition dry out out.

Mold is not a good sign as information technology discards the moisture left in pigment which is necessary for rehydration. If at that place's no pocket-size amount of wet in acrylic, you can't revive it. The presence of mold gives off a sour, mildew smell so you will exist able to tell if the pigment has gone bad.

Summary

Don't lose hope when you feel similar your acrylic paint paint is drying too fast. Be patient to rehydrate it with the help of warm water, a flow improver or fluid additive, and thinners like acetone. Yous accept to slowly add together either of these substances in a small amount to end up with desired consistency of the paint.

It's also crucial to know if you can rehydrate dry acrylic pigment or not. Reviving is impossible if it has molds that eliminate moisture left in the paint. To avoid this mishap, follow the tips in preventing your acrylic paint from drying out.

Source: https://acrylicpaintingschool.com/how-to-rehydrate-acrylic-paint/