Tricks of the Trade

A pallet is a must have tool for the miniatures painter. For years I have used an old diner plate as a pallet. This has worked fine for many years and to clean could be put in a dishwasher. As I began using inks I would also have a small plastic pallet with 'wells'. I now use the cheap plastic pallets exclusively.

Cleaning acrylic paint from the plastic is no problem, as you will find that acrylic paint once dry will peal away. I did find that inks were much different. If the plastic scratched from digging out dried ink, cleaning was impossible.

I discovered the following trick by accident and have used this many, many years to clean my plastic pallets.

My examples are two pallets. The one on the left was found in a box of old painting supplies and is about 6 years old. The other pallet is much newer and has 4 different inks dried in the wells.

Cheap white glue is all you will need to clean these pallets.

I start by filling each well about 1/4. Take a craft stick and spread the white glue, coating the well and any flat surfaces that are stained. You can also add a bit of water to the glue to assist with coverage.

For dramatic effect, I have covered half of the pallet on left.

Let your pallet sit over night allowing the white glue to dry completely.

Now the fun part. Using a craft knife (I prefer a blade larger than #11), poke into the dried glue and peal away all the paint and ink. You can see how well it will take the color from the cracks and scratches.

The pallet on the left will get some additional white glue for its left side as well as around the edges. Keep in mind that when spreading the glue a thin layer is all that is needed.

This little trick works well on all types of pallets - Porcelain, glass, aluminum or plastic.

Happy Painting.