General Question

raum's avatar

Can you use nail polish remover as a paint thinner?

Asked by raum (13206points) December 13th, 2019
16 responses
“Great Question” (2points)

I want to decorate some plastic ball ornaments. Pour some acrylic inside and swirl it around. Can I use nail polish remover to thin out the acrylic paint? Would it also work with tempera?

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Answers

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

It would thin an enamel but it might eat away at the plastic.
Acrylics just thin with water but if you’re painting on shiny plastic,it might not adhere well if thinned too much. Maybe you could prime it with a clear poly before hand.
Come to think of it, thin the acrylic paint with clear,water based poly.
As for tempera, I believe that is water based as well…unless you want to go the route of the old masters and use egg yolk.

lucillelucillelucille (34325points)“Great Answer” (1points)
raum's avatar

Good point about it eating away at the plastic! Thanks!

raum (13206points)“Great Answer” (0points)
lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@raum- I read a bit about the plastic bulbs and they are saying to sand the surface to help the paint adhere.
So my question is, “How the fuck is one supposed to sand the inside of the bulb??
Were you going for a swirled paint effect?
Enamels like the kind one uses for model cars would work and you wouldn’t have to prime.

lucillelucillelucille (34325points)“Great Answer” (1points)
raum's avatar

Swirled paint! Not planning on sanding the insides of a dozen plastic ball ornaments. I’m kind of OCD, but I’ve got to draw the line somewhere. Ha.

raum (13206points)“Great Answer” (1points)
lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@raum – I get that! :D
These are done with the glass ones.
I do wonder if you poured nail polish remover in the plastic bulbs, swirled it around,quickly dump it, would it etch the surface enough for the paint to adhere?
I looked at the video again and she is just pouring it over.

lucillelucillelucille (34325points)“Great Answer” (1points)
lucillelucillelucille's avatar

What about this technique?

lucillelucillelucille (34325points)“Great Answer” (1points)
rebbel's avatar

How about as a first ground lair you pour some primer in the balls?
There are primers specifically for adherence of paints on plastics.

rebbel (35547points)“Great Answer” (2points)
lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@rebbel -Are they clear?

lucillelucillelucille (34325points)“Great Answer” (1points)
rebbel's avatar

The ones I’ve seen and used (years ago) were not.
Would that be needed for @raum ‘s project?

rebbel (35547points)“Great Answer” (2points)
lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@rebbel If he plans on using the paint on the inside.

lucillelucillelucille (34325points)“Great Answer” (2points)
rebbel's avatar

Ah…...
Yeah, would be cool to be able to see the paint on the outside too :-)

The only thing I can think of then is too see whether that primer is available in funky colors, or if it’s possible to color a (white?) primer.

rebbel (35547points)“Great Answer” (1points)
lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@rebbel -Yep.It wouldn’t get marred and would have a nice glossy finish.

lucillelucillelucille (34325points)“Great Answer” (2points)
raum's avatar

So dug around and found some transparent tempera. Much thinner than regular tempera and I think that did the trick!

Thanks for the creative brainstorming, guys!

raum (13206points)“Great Answer” (2points)
rebbel's avatar

@raum Anytime.

rebbel (35547points)“Great Answer” (2points)
kritiper's avatar

Yes, but not with water based paints.

kritiper (25757points)“Great Answer” (1points)
lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@raum -Have fun!

lucillelucillelucille (34325points)“Great Answer” (0points)

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