Please read the article on this site 'What Paste to use'.

Yes, the heating causes a chemical reaction to make the combination soluble, otherwise it's just flour floating around in the water.

The main problem is that food-type glues don't have much moisture resistance, and will absorb moisture from the air and then start growing mold.  If you still want to use it, you need to dry it well, then thoroughly seal it while it's still dry.  That will help to discourage the insects, too.

Sue

I've thought of doing long hair, but only tried it once and it was a dismal failure.  That you've gotten as far as you have with it clearly indicates that you had more success than I did.

Would it be possible to remove it in sections, intact?  Or is it too fragile?  I am wondering if you could carefully remove sections, DIP it into some kind of sealer, totally submerging it, drain and then replace.

I would be interested in seeing your results, even now, if you could post a photo.  The HOW has always been a puzzle to me, trying to combine the length and fragility, then trying to seal it completely.

One method that I considered after the first fiasco was making small sections, tinting the glue/sealer, dipping it, and attaching the sections that actually survived the process!  But it's just a theory, at best.

But you could always 'cheat' and use another material, such as unraveled jute, manila or hemp rope or cord, which would survive the wet handling.  If you can use other materials with papier mache, why not rope for hair?

As far as I know, there are no Papier Mache Police that would come after you for mixing materials.  And certainly no one here would yell at you via their fingertips!

Experiment!  And let us know!  After all, we learn more from our failures than our successes.  (I know this is true, because my brother only stuck a hairpin into an electrical outlet once.)

Sue

That is quite a lovely job!  Mine wasn't anywhere nearly as good.

If you wanted to add more color but still let the newsprint show through, I wonder how a yellow watercolor (from a tube) diluted with water and sprayed on would work?  Of course, that would add more moisture.

So I was just browsing online for translucent color and came across a spray product for tinting silk flowers.  It's made by the DesignMaster spray paint people and called Just for Flowers:  http://www.dmcolor.com/products/?id=17

It might give enough color while keeping the moisture to the minimum.  Just a thought.

Sue

If you are wanting to allow the newsprint to show through, the floral tint may be a good choice.  Have used it in costuming. It is good for spray painting fabric as it has a very 'soft hand' and doesn't leave the fabric stiff. Have you considered soft pastels? I have used them several times with PM. You can grind them into powder and brush them on, setting them with a sprayable fixative, or take the powder and mix it with 90% alcohol (found at your local druggist) and daub it on or spray it on with a small mister. It still required a fixative of course. Takes a bit to get the feel for it, but the results are quite nice and it dries almost instantly when applied with a light hand. You can look around the web for pastel alcohol wash techniques.

Last edited by paper soup (2012-01-15 13:50:14)

I do have soft pastels and spray fixative already in the cupboard, hadn't thought of that! thanks paper soup.  Am heading off on holidays for a week so am going to leave it to dry thoroughly and tackle the colour and hair issue when we get back I will let you know how I go!

Thanks, Helen