what will adding petroleum jelly to my paraffin wax do?

Question

i just bought some paraffin wax from Michale's. i wanted to use it as sculpting wax. i heated a piece of it... and it just isnt the right consitency. it's a lot like taffy. i need it to hold detail very well, but it doesnt seem like it will.if i add some petroleum jelly to it, will it be more like........ clay? will it be more able to hold a lot of detail?

Answer 1

Paraffin wax is too brittle to use like clay, you can use it to carve things into. And yes, I am absolutely sure you can mix petroleum jelly (vaseline) into molten wax, I've done it. It will make your paraffin wax softer and more moldable, though I am not sure how far towards really moldable that will go, just give it a try with a small amount. But then you don't want it too soft, because then it won't hold its shape very well. It also sounds to me that you are trying to use the wax much too hot. You should be able to mold it when it's about handwarm, if you get it too hot it will just be very sticky (and may burn you as well). You can try getting some cold wax to the right temperature by warming it up in warm water.
If you can find microcrystalline wax, that's the wax which is usually used by sculptors and it is pretty flexible and it also comes in different hardnesses, that may be more fun to use. You could also get some pretty soft microcrystalline wax and make it a bit harder by mixing it with your paraffine wax.
Wax generally can hold a lot of detail, it definitely will hold your fingerprint.
Have fun.
If you want more info about modeling with wax, look up books about metal casting. As the most common method is lost wax casting a lot of those books deal with making the wax model as well.

Answer 2

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RE:
what will adding petroleum jelly to my paraffin wax do?
i just bought some paraffin wax from Michale's. i wanted to use it as sculpting wax. i heated a piece of it... and it just isnt the right consitency. it's a lot like taffy. i need it to hold detail very well, but it doesnt seem like it will.if i add some petroleum jelly to it, will it be...

Answer 3

Honestly, hon, I don't think it will molecularly blend well... you can try it... but they are different chemical compositions. Paraffin will always solidify and petroleum jelly never will.

You can ask the folks at Michael's if they have - or can get any microcrystalline wax like bronze sculptors use. That can mix with paraffin to create wax sculpture.

Have you tried Polymer clays? Michael's sells them too. They are wonderfully malleable, and fire in the oven to a permanent form. ...Or are you trying to do castings?

Ok... I found a page at Wikipedia for you...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcrystalline_wax

See if this fits your bill.

Answer 4

Moldable Wax

Answer 5

I really don't think the two will mix well. Also the petroleum jelly, being oily, will not help in holding any detail in my opinion. I vote for you not using it at all.

Answer 6

I am not sure, so I wouldn't. I would use something like bee's wax.

Answer 7

I have done it. Makes it worse. Get canning wax.

Answer 8

heat it less. but, I think there's a type of wax for sculpting, you should try that one instead.

Answer 9

umm i don thtink so.. it will probably only make it more watery