What kind of putty can I color?
You can color the traditional coral stuff, but stick to dark colors and do NOT try to mix glow powders– they will not work!
What you really should use is white putty or the elusive clear putty (see the chapter on how to get bulk putty). The white putty is nearly as stiff as the coral kind but is terrific for coloring. The clear putty is a little stickier but is super cool especially for glow putty.
What do I use to color the putty?
Powder, man. Powder. You think a liquid dye is gonna work in a waterproof substance? Oh no.
There are occasional powder pools on the mailing list, as some of the powders get crazy pricey. Your best bet is to march over to your art or craft supply store and get some of Jacquard's Pearl-Ex powders. Each of the baby-food size jars (which go for about 4-6 dollars each) will color a one or more pounds of white putty, depending on how rich you want the color to be. Pearl-Ex also is offered in starter sets of 16 and 30 color sets which let you experiment around. The colors run the gamut from regular colors you can find in the rainbow to metallic, iridescent and extra-sparkly colors which have a wonderful look in the putty. The metallics (in particular, True Blue, Brilliant Gold, and Misty Lavender) are wonderful and worth a try. Metallics are not very shiny in coral putty.
Other colorants include toner (NOT recommended for putty that could end up with kids), and the powder from dry-erase markers after they've been drawn on a white board. My favorite other colorant is extra-fine glitter, particularly the holographic kind. Glitter does best in lightly colored putty, and you probably want to stay away from dark glitter like dark blue, dark green, or purple... they just look like specks of dirt, believe it or not. Craft stores usually have a nice selection of glitter. Remember to get the extra-fine glitter size because larger glitter (even fine but particularly medium) can make your putty seem gritty and it won't have that wonderful smoothness. Glitter also doesn't do well in coral putty.
Someone mentioned that Matt Plimpton at Gayson SDI can make any color you want and it can be milled in, hand mixed in, or stirred in. Their number is 800-4GAYSON. If you've ordered pigments from here, we'd welcome the feedback.
What about glow powder?
Glow powder is super sweet but there are a number of caveats.
- Glow powder is often a bit toxic so you may want to wear a mask and rubber gloves when you mix it.
- Do NOT mix glow powder into coral putty or colored putty. Use white or clear. If you MUST color glow putty so that it is not white in bright light, make it VERY pastel, and I mean VERY. Too much color in glow putty will obscure the glow no matter how much glow powder you use. This is the voice of experience here.
- If you have an opportunity to purchase red glow powder, BEWARE! Some versions of this stink like rotten eggs that have been eaten and passed through a rabid moose. I am NOT kidding at how bad it smells. It looks very pretty, but no one will want to play with it.
How do I mix the powder into the putty?
Here is how I mix powder with putty without heating:
- Find a clean cookie sheet or other hard surface to work on.
- Roll about 1/4 - 1/2 lb. of putty into a very thin sheet with uniform thickness (usually ends up about 1/8” thick.
- Use a spoon to get Powder out of the plastic bag.
- Gently “tap” the spoon to allow powder to sprinkle onto the putty, while moving the spoon over the surface of the sheet. This allows me to get a pretty even distribution of powder on the putty, and minimizes the amount that gets in the air.
- Roll the sheet of putty with powder on it into a long cylinder
- Fold the cylinder in half and twist it into a spiral.
- Fold this new shape in half and again twist into a spiral, while gently stretching to keep a consistent length.
- Repeat this procedure as many times as necessary to get consistent distribution of powder throughout the putty.
Some heat putty to make it softer for mixing, by using the microwave. Be CAREFUL! Nuked putty gets VERY hot and can burn you!