How can i keep things from being sticky, that where sprayed with a glossy or matte finish?

Question

I have recently done some sculptures with acrylic paint, and afterwards i sprayed them with some clear finish to keep them from peeling... the finish however has made them really sticky. Just wondering if there is a way to get rid of the sticky.

hopefully this isn't a stupid question.. but when you say powder... do u mean like baby powder.. or is there some other kind of powder i should use?

Answer 1

if they are sticky you are likely mixes two different types of paints or your clear finish is no good.

I would bet you are putting an enamel over the acrylic. The acrylic should set for at least a full day before putting the clear coat over it. It should also be an acrylic, not an enamel or latex. That is probably the problem. If not, try setting your sculpture in front of a fan to fully cure.

Answer 2

I agree with John P in that you're likely trying to put a sealer over the acrylic paint that's not water-based (it's "solvent"-based --that is, it uses paint thinner, etc., to dilute it and for removing it).

Those solvents will eventually eat into (begin to dissolve) acrylics and make them sticky, though it can take a long time to show up (we have the same problem with baked polymer clay and solvent-based finishes).
You may even have used an acrylic finish, but some spray cans have a solvent in their propellant even if there's none in the actual liquid finish.

You don't say if you used acrylic paint to paint over polymer clay or something else, or if you actually sculpted with a structural acrylic paint, etc., but one of the things that might help depending on what you did, is to bake the finish which often "sets" it even if it's not water-based... when we do that on polymer clay to fix stickiness, we bake the item at 200-250 degrees but only for 5-10 min.

Acrylic paint shouldn't peel from most surfaces as long as they're prepared properly... roughing up the surface with sandpaper, etc., if necessary, and removing any oils with alcohol, for example.
(And btw, what you're doing with the sealer isn't really "sealing" any more than the acrylic paint already did since they're more or less the same thing.)


P.S. If you are painting on top of baked polymer clay, you might want to check out this section of my website for helpful info about that:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/paints.htm
(read the categories on Preparing for Painting, and Acrylics)
And if you want to read more about finishes that can be used with polymer clay:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/finishes.htm


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 3

Powder coating is eletro statically put on and then beaked it 350 F for several hours. very tough and shinny. the second answer is probably what you have going on. let them dry for a while sorry maybe 2-3 days

Answer 4

They need to be powder coated. I just had some iron work done.