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I've been digging through my craft supplies and came across a jar of Dreamweaver Silver Embossing Paste which has dried up. I was able to tug the paste out of the jar and I wondered if there is any way I can restore this to paste.
I hate to waste/throw out an expensive product. I'm thinking of putting it in my glue pot and melting it.
Has anyone come up with a method to use this dried up embossing paste. It's more than half of the jar.
I had the opposite problem with a pot of this, it went watery on the top. I made the mistake of mixing it in, should have poured it off! Did a sort of fix with talc, lol. I'd suggest emailing Dreamweaver, and asking if it can be rescued in any way.Don't know if you may get unpleasant or dangerous fumes by heating it?
I had that problem with one of mine from DW and called them. They are so nice to work with. The said to add a little water (few drops at a time) and stir, stir, stir. It worked for me. Not sure which color it was but I was happy with the results. If it's too hard (like a brick) you may need to break it apart, add water and let it sit for a day or so to soften up a bit before trying to mix it. Good luck.
I contacted Dreamweaver and received the following response from Lynell Harlow which I thought you'd all find interesting:
No, it is almost impossible to bring back an embossing paste that has lost it. Five years is all we guarantee and if you send me the batch number I can look it up to see how old it is. I had a consumer recently purchase some paste at a show and it was over 8 years old and bad. Be careful who you purchase from....my recommendation is Dreamweaver Stencils - SWS Home Page if you are making on line purchases and of course a local retailer who will stand behind the product is even better, because you don't have to pay for the shipping. AND my recommendation to all my students is to use your products within five years, although I have paste that is over 10 years old that is still good.
The paste is 100% acrylic. Which means it is water based. As your paste ages and you still are using it...be sure to clean the mouth of the jar with a moist paper towel when you put it away and tap it so that all of the paste goes to the bottom of the jar. Some people spritz it with water as they put it away if they aren't going to be using it again soon and then when you open it the next time just give it a stir with your palette knife.
I probably wouldn't put it in the microwave, any kind of heat is NOT going to make the acrylic happy and rubber cement will just make it thready and gluey and it won't really dry very well. Since it is water based....thinner, alcohol, mineral spirits won't really help either and just make for a smelly activity.
I'm glad someone asked this question. I have been re-visiting products that have dried up a bit since last usage and this is one of the products.
I had a similar issue with my Inka Golds by Viva Decor. I sprayed them with water and chopped threw them a few times and set them aside to hydrate for a day or two.
I had some old ones and everything I tried with water failed ( so mine must have been on the 5+ side) now I just buy a couple jars at a time and try harder to use it up faster.
but, the spritzing with water is a good idea thanks for sharing that!
I can tell you that dried up gilding waxes can be rescued with products like Low Odour thinners/ Zest-it/etc.
Not sure if this would work on the embossing pastes, might be worth hacking a little piece off and testing?
I don't have an dreamweaver paste of any kind, but I do have other brands and I have used water successfully in some. And than at the suggestion of others, especially for inka gold rubs, glycerin is a good reviver. just a drop or two will make it workable for a project and then I just put the top back on and next time, I will add another drop or or two. I've had some for about 10 years and this is what I do. works for me. and also for some of the paste that has sand in it.
I'm glad someone asked this question. I have been re-visiting products that have dried up a bit since last usage and this is one of the products.
I had a similar issue with my Inka Golds by Viva Decor. I sprayed them with water and chopped threw them a few times and set them aside to hydrate for a day or two.
Did that work with your Inka Golds?
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Oh yes, they were rehydrated and creamy, slightly chunky since I chopped them up when they were dry.
Grant you they are not the whipped fluffy consistency like brand new, but I use blending sponges and they spread smoothly over my surfaces.
I will use the same technique if needed in the future.
If it's acrylic based as the manufacturer says - there's no reason to believe otherwise since they'd be the experts - there is no saving the product once it's fully dry. Thick but still wet acrylic products can be saved, but once they start to go chunky/lumpy despite lots of stirring or are fully hard, that's the end of the line.
All acrylic products should be checked every six months, stirred and topped up with extra water if needed. I do that with my paints and have some jars that are 30+ years old now, still going strong.
SO Glad you all revived this post. My jar of embossing paste from SU had dried up. I added some water, mixed it in as well as I could, added a little more, mixed a little more, then capped it and put it away in a plastic bag. I tried it out today and it worked great! Even mixed a little color in to some and it blended perfectly.
It�s a little thinner which made it wash off the stencil more easily, but it still provides good texture and dried quickly on the page. I would say reviving it worked really well!
Embossing Paste
