How to stop paint beading on your plastic or tin watercolour palette - fix it fast!

Does your paint bead up when you use your new plastic palette? Or your new tin one, for that matter. It’s annoying, isn’t it? It stops you from mixing your colours properly or picking out the exact shade you want. You know it’ll wear off over time, but is there anything you can do to speed up the process? Or can you fix it quickly?
Yes! There is. We go through four options to find the best solution, which might surprise you. And I suggest a couple of other options. This works for metal too.
If you have any other solutions, please let me know in the comments. I have even heard of using a glue stick!!
Every week I share a tip, trick or technique I wish I had known when I started painting, so if you enjoyed this please like, comment and subscribe. Or if you have a watercolour problem, let me know and maybe I can help?
If you are looking for detailed tutorials, please visit www.lizchadertonstudio.co.uk
Tags: Liz Chaderton, watercolour, watercolor, plastic palette, beading, ways to keep your paint from beading, beading up on a watercolor palette, how to prevent beading on a new watercolour palette, fix beading on a palette, stop paint beading up, new palette, ceramic, tin, plastic palette for watercolour, plastic palette for watercolor, ways to keep your watercolor from beading up on a plastic palette, ways to keep your watercolor from beading up on a plastic palette

[@weefirebelle]

Hi Liz, when you started the video, I was going to say use a magic eraser or toothpaste, both will will usually remove stains from pallets. Then you produced both for your problem with beading. I think if you clean the pallet regularly with toothpaste it should improve the beading issue more each time, I would give this a go too to see if this works, bonus too is that your pallet will be cleaner to see the colours you're mixing better 🤔. Ceramic pallets are so expensive to replace if you damage them 😫 been there so have stuck to my metal or plastic mixing areas or a white plate.

[@LizChadertonArt]

Much prefer ceramic - but they are heavy and breakable! The beading goes away with time, as you say, but is deeply annoying on a new palette!

[@MoMaryR]

Plastic eraser removes the stains, but, need to repeat after washing the palette. I read that gum arabic works to stop the beading. Have you tried that?

[@LizChadertonArt]

Sadly I find even T Cut doesn’t remove all stains…. I am not sure about gum Arabic…sorry

[@johncowburn4444]

If you use a fine wet and dry emery paper the scratching will be much less.

[@LizChadertonArt]

thank you for the tip

[@AndrewSmith-ii6zp]

Would t~cut get the stains off plastic?

[@LizChadertonArt]

I’ve never tried it…but I might have some

[@vincent2327]

Two others might be worth a try, Autosol, which is a metal cleaning polish and comes in a tube, and Eucryl, which is a very fine powder tooth paste for smokers.

[@LizChadertonArt]

thoase sound like good options. I wonder if T Cut would work too, thinking of car options?

[@AVR342]

Thank you for this video! I’m a beginner and was trying to figure out how to fix this. So helpful!

[@LizChadertonArt]

You are so welcome!

[@MaggieValera]

I just did a little experiment of my own with acrylic mediums. I used clear gesso, matte medium, and heavy gloss gel medium. And they came in in that order, with very little difference between the clear gesso and the matte medium. The gloss gel I thought would have performed best because it would be similar to a glass surface, but it came in third but only by a little bit. Each one of them are worthy. Another KZbinr suggested using a glue stick, and it works well but if you want to clean your palate then you have to redo it all

[@LizChadertonArt]

I didn’t like the glue stick idea, as I thought it would contaminate the paint.

[@karenmorris2913]

I’ve found that the Masters rush cleaner takes the stains out of plastic palette beautifully

[@karenmorris2913]

Meant Masters Brush Cleaner

[@LizChadertonArt]

so glad you said that. I saw rush cleaner pop up and was perplexed! thanks for the tip!

[@JoyAloha709]

Thanks for this tip!

[@veystone2580]

The toothpaste got rid of the stain!!!! So cool!!!!

[@LizChadertonArt]

😊

[@johncspine2787]

Superfine steel wool, four zero, 0000, a light scrub will stop beading and not create unsightly scratches..

[@LizChadertonArt]

great tip, thank you

[@heisenberg6921]

I loved the experimental control 😃…🤣👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻…congratulations!!…nice and usefull content, great humor !…thank you so much!

[@LizChadertonArt]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@apcorgis]

How would coating it with watercolor ground or another substance. I like my ceramic flowers - amazon has good prices on them, but I think the ones I bought are a little too small -

[@LizChadertonArt]

ceramic shouldn’t bead up, so you’ll be fine. A watercolour ground would absorb paint and stain, so wouldn’t work

[@christinekeefe3553]

once you've used the toothpaste and rubbed off does it affect the color mixing? Is there any toothpast reisdue in your paint after mixing?

[@LizChadertonArt]

Toothpaste is a mild abrasive so it alters the surface and is then washed away. I’ve seen people use a glue stick and not rinse it. That would contaminate your paint

[@peggypeter8070]

What about thrifting ceramic plates second hand to save$$?

[@LizChadertonArt]

they are great for acrylics but if you are mixing large washes you really need something with deep wells

[@aerorider2]

Glue sticks…spread liberally and the rub it all over the surface with your finger…then remove with a paper towel and a water rinse.

[@LizChadertonArt]

I've seen that as a tip, but I wasn't convinced!

[@garymcguire8529]

Liz, you didn't try enough elbow grease and white gouache !

[@LizChadertonArt]

😂

[@annewatman677]

The toothpaste actually works pretty well. Another KZbin artist used one of those cotton facial pads, dampened, to work in the toothpaste.

[@LizChadertonArt]

I also saw someone recommend a glue stick, the other day…

[@bowieknife]

Does the tooth paste effect last after a wash in the sink?

[@LizChadertonArt]

Yes. Wash the toothpaste off totally. I am guessing it is very mildly abbrassive so the effect is permanent

[@bowieknife]

@@LizChadertonArt I tried it, but after rinsing it off, the effect is lost. :(

[@LizChadertonArt]

@@bowieknife oh no! It worked for me. Since I made this another thing I’ve read but not tried is a smear of gum Arabic….

[@bowieknife]

@@LizChadertonArt okay thanks. I'll try again!!

[@veystone2580]

Two questions: 1. After a painting, if you go ahead and clean your palette, do you have to do the process again to paint again? 2. If you are painting a lot, mixing and mixing, won't that take away the glue or toothpaste, while you are still painting?

[@LizChadertonArt]

once the palette is worn in, it will be fine, so no need to redo

[@veystone2580]

@@LizChadertonArt thx. 😊

[@sarasorgardesiegers3146]

Just what I needed. Thank you ❤

[@LizChadertonArt]

My pleasure!

[@alliev8701]

Very helpful video. Thank you

[@LizChadertonArt]

You're welcome!

[@Mahoney1]

Great tips! I wonder if using a toothbrush with the toothpaste would yield better results. My new palette arrives tomorrow, I'll see if it works.

[@LizChadertonArt]

Ooh, always exciting to get new supplies. I think a finger is easiest to be honest. Have fun

[@annewatman677]

Make sure it’s a soft toothbrush! I’ve already commented that another artist used one of those cotton facial pads to rub the toothpaste around. It worked pretty well for me, but I don’t think I got one of the wells to the right point. I’m going to try doing everything again. But, I do see toothpaste mentioned most often.

[@DahHar117]

Put a drop of oxgall in your water.

[@LizChadertonArt]

Possible, but I don't want to impact all my colours by using ox gall, so that's why I recommend sorting the palette out rather than the paint.

[@susanhepburn6040]

Very useful - thank you!

[@LizChadertonArt]

Good! Glad it was helpful

[@scarz1951]

Try olive oil to remove the paint stains. Put it on a paper towel and rub the stain.

[@LizChadertonArt]

thank you - would the oil not make the beading worse?

[@scarz1951]

@@LizChadertonArt It hasn't on my palettes. I just wipe it off really well after the stain is gone then dry it with clean paper towel.

[@LizChadertonArt]

@@scarz1951 thanks!

[@scarz1951]

@@LizChadertonArt Thanks for all you do.

[@shanabanana3765]

Maybe use a very fine sandpaper?

[@marygawley2637]

Great tip. Thank you

[@LizChadertonArt]

My pleasure

[@shanabanana3765]

Maybe use a very fine sand paper?

[@LizChadertonArt]

I think that would be like the metal scourer and damage the surface which would lead to staining etc. I’d go for something more gentle, I reckon

[@LJP2112]

I love this!

[@LizChadertonArt]

so glad it was helpful

[@jacquelinethorne5180]

Love your tips

[@LizChadertonArt]

Thanks so much! I enjoy making these films.

[@didee1000]

I've use Comet cleanser on plastic palettes and it works well and doesn't scratch.

[@LizChadertonArt]

What is Comet Cleanser? Sounds good!

[@didee1000]

@@LizChadertonArt It is a household non-abrasive cleanser available in Canada and probably the US. It is similar to Ajax Cleanser if you have that brand in the UK.

[@LizChadertonArt]

@@didee1000 Cif, I think would be the equivalent. Thank you!

[@didee1000]

@@LizChadertonArt I googled CIF and yes I believe it is similar to our VIM which should work just as well. (Comet and Ajax are powders.)

[@LizChadertonArt]

@@didee1000 thanks Didee. Isn’t it amazing how you can quickly become an international expert on cleaning products! Thank goodness for google! 😂

[@cmeblu75]

Get to the point, who cares about The Who, what, where of all your palettes!! What’s the video about? So why talk half the time w/out getting to the point

[@LizChadertonArt]

thanks for the feedback. Some people like to understand why, and I always try to explain, so I guess my films just aren’t for you.

[@rta3738]

@@LizChadertonArt Much nicer response than I would have given.

[@LizChadertonArt]

@@rta3738 🤣🤣 I know! It makes me laugh as people make these films for free and then people get really snotty. Sure if someone is misleading people complain, if not just move on! Nowt as funny as folk

[@amymbeauty8765]

What a snooty, entitled comment to make. You DO realize that creators can do anything they want since it's THEIR video, right?? I swear people these day smh