I had a lovely phone call from Shirley Suettinger in Wisconsin a week or so ago. At the end of our conversation, she said “I have a suggestion.” I love to hear that – because there’s always something interesting coming – and this was no exception. Shirley told me she uses a potato peeler to remove the film from her paintstiks rather than a paring knife.
Talk about your V-8 moment! This ranked right up there with Nancy K telling me to paint with the side of the stick! Now you may wonder why I would be so excited about a vegetable peeler, but I think it’s a wonderful idea. (And, I think I can safely take one in my carry-on luggage without the airport security folks confiscating it from my bag.)
The best part about using the peeler is that it removes the film and just a bit of the soft paint underneath. Not too little, not too much. Just right for getting under that film!
Oh — by the way — there is no reason to remove the film from the entire paintstik (all the way around the stick) to make rubbings. If you peel the film from about 1/3 to 1/2 of the paintstik, you can hold onto the portion of the paintstik that still has the film and your fingers won’t get nearly as dirty.
Happy painting!
Yes, that must have been a V-8 moment indeed! I love that tip!!! I’m going to retire an old potato peeler and treat the kitchen to a brand new one.
Hi Sue! I’m glad that little idea ticked your funny bone. I think it’s wonderful. Now I just have to round up a dozen peelers for my classes in Houston at Quilt Market. Do you think there’s a market for paintstik peelers??? 🙂
I found a disposable plastic knife works really well also.
I’ll bet there are some plastic knives that work just fine, but the one I was using in a pinch just a week ago (because I forgot to ship something to a class) really made a mess of my paint. The knife I had was pretty clunky — it got the job done, but it wasn’t pretty. It’s lucky for me the paints are very forgiving once the skin is removed.
Keep the ideas coming, Andi. We love to hear ideas that can help us out in a pinch (and get us through airport security without a “bag check!”)