This is a question I’ve been asked a few times, and I’d love to share my experiments with you.
I love to test out ideas and theories, and Cold Wax is a product I’ve definitely played around with.
First of all, let’s be crystal clear …
(1) Cold Wax is totally different from any type of gutta or resist because it is WAX, and is not water-based.
(2) Cold Wax is nothing like Hot Wax (I don’t use Hot Wax)
I believe there are several brands available for silk painting.
The information below is based on the brand I use in Australia.
Now we’ve got that clear, let’s check out some of the questions I’ve been asked:
Can cold wax be painted on a previously steam-set hand-painted silk piece or scarf?
At first I thought I had never tried this — and then I remembered — I tried this about ten years ago in France, and I’d totally forgotten!
So — the answer is “Yes! You can paint over a previous cold wax section of silk!”. Yay!
For a previously finished silk painting:
Yes this does work. I’ve tested this and it worked great.
If you have a finished (steam-set, washed, dried and ironed) silk project and you’d like to embellish it by masking sections with Cold Wax, give it a try.
The white silk which had previously had Cold Wax on it would now be white again (after steaming, washing and ironing), so painting over the white sections with dye would certainly add an interesting touch, especially on those parts of the silk which had been masked with new Cold Wax sections.
For a new silk painting:
Putting cold wax on top of a part of the silk which has already been painted will protect the silk if you decide to paint on the non-waxed silk with different colours. You might also like to try it with water-based gutta or outliner thinned a bit to make it easy to paint with like “antifusant”.
Can I add Silk Dye to Cold Wax to change the colour?
Short answer? “No, not in my experience.”
In my experience with Cold Wax:
- it cannot be coloured with silk dye or anything else (yes, I’ve tried)
If you try this and do some experiments, please do take some photos/videos and share, I’d love to hear how you get on 🙂
Cheerio for now
Teena Hughes
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