Signmaking 101: Getting the most out of a can of gold size

[Mike Jackson]

After a can of gold size has been opened and some of it used, it has a tendency to skin over quickly. The culprit, of course, is the air inside the can. After the can has skinned over a few times, the remaining size can start getting gummy and lumpy—not something you want to see in your gold job. There are several solutions I have seen over the years.

Breathe into the can before closing the lid:
I've seen this suggestion over and over. I suspect it works, but not my favorite. In theory, the "air" is replaced with carbon dioxide and it is less prone to skin.

Pour the size into smaller bottles or cans:
This is probably my favorite. You can buy lots of small bottles and fill each one to the top, you will only have small quantities of size to worry about at any particular time.

Check out http://www.ebottles.com

Pour the size into a squirt bottle, then store it upside down:
This one works fairly well as long as you make certain to get the lid snapped down well after use. The skin will form on the top of the size, which will be at the top of the upside down bottle.

Marbles in the can:
(Jeff Lang made this suggestion earlier on the forum). Go to K-Mart or Wal-Mart and buy a bag of cheap marbles. When you open a new can of gold size and use a little of it on a project, immediately drop in enough glass marbles to fill the size back up to the top and replace the lid. It keeps the amount of air in the can down to a minimum and keeps it from skinning over. I'm still on my first can of size, and it still seems to be working. Jeff says you can clean the old marbles with thinner when the can is used up and reuse the marbles on the next one.

[ROY FRISBY]

Just don't "lose your marbles!"

[joe cieslowski]

The method I've been using for many years involves putting a hex head sheet metal screw (1/2") near the outside radius of the lid. Turn the can upside down (after shaking) remove the screw and squeeze the can (old oil can style) to extract the required amount of paint. Put the screw back in BEFORE you turn the can upright again. It gets me to the bottom of every can of paint. The air that does go back into the can must go through the paint/. It picks up the solvent and doesn't cause the paint to skim over.

Joe

[Chris Welker]

Great tip with the marbles.

When I was little, my dad built a lot of oak furniture. I totally forgot about him putting BBs in the cans (shellac, varnish, stain - don't remember which). I think it was to aid in shaking the can for the next use. Same concept I guess. Definately have to try that to save my size.