Thought on Safety of Dippy Pots

Not sure if this got passed along, I haven't had time to catch up on all the threads but didn't notice this yet..

We had an issue on a UK forum with a nasty reaction this year, and they traced it to dippy pots -breeding ground for germs it seems. (Despite the anti-bac properties in all the good paints.) I know a lot of you/ us work with a wet well in the middle of paints even if we haven't made actual dippy pots, just to have the right coloured liquids handy for linework.

Its never happened to me, but I think that's the way I work; I had this idea years ago when I was painting in Hong Kong and started it there!
To be safe I keep 2 empty pots in my palettes into which I put tiny wee lumps of black / white, at the start of a gig. I add water, swirl until most 'melts' and keep that liquid going throughput the gig. So If I only have a little bit that I mix in the empty pot and have used up by the end of a gig, it's MUCH safer as I'm not constantly going back to. Plus it stops your whole paint cake getting stained/ gooey from prolonged exposure to water etc.

Just thought its mentioning as the USA has parts much warmer/ more likely to breed germs than the UK!

Cat x

They don't kill bacteria, they have chemicals that prevent microbial growth. If you'd like to read more about it, http://www.snazaroo.us/safety.htm

Sodium benzoate is a food grade preservative used in the Wolfe/DFx/TAG products. It's bacteriostatic (inhibits growth), not bacteriocidal (kills), and only when the product at the correct pH (fairly acidic).

Snaz has a different agents, parabens, which can be somewhat bacteriocidal and fungicidal but are mostly bacteriostatic. There is also debate on how much parabens influence hormones, especially estrogen.

None of these products are going to kill viruses. If you're diluting the products with water, you're also diluting the preservatives. How much does this have an effect on the bacteriostatic properties? I don't know, but it's food for thought.

Take home: Don't paint sick people. Don't paint open skin.

Cat, how did they "trace" it? Did someone actually do a culture of their dippy pot?

Not sure; from what I recall FACE etc were involved when the painter went 'public' and we just heard their results.

But as your explanations say thats exactly what I thought must have happened and why I don't 'keep' dippy pots or constantly liquidised areas of paint going.

Thanks Cat! I think I'll make a fresh batch for each gig from now on...

This is always a worry of mine. This is why I don't have a dippy pot. I do have wells in my white and black, but only add a few drops of water to it during a gig and add drops thru out the gig when needed. I then leave my paints out to dry. The white and black stay out/open for days so I know they dry out really good Actually, I still think my white and black are open and it's been a week since I used them

I used to do that too but I was worried about the state down 'under' the paint as I noticed there was often damp there for much longer, when I was re-potting paints etc. Plus especially in Hong Kong, some of my paints still ended up getting gooey over time.

What Inlike best is that with the new-every-time method the main parent pain stays pristine so you don't worry so much about the white getting dingy over time!

Why can't they just make a thick liquid paint that would work for line work? Then you could just pour out as much as you need for that gig. Does anyone make something like this? I made dippy pots too, but dont' like using them, it's too hard to get the consistancy just right.

There is mehron liquid and fardel liquids but its not as good. And still has a shelf-life. Plus I'd still want to decant a bit to keep the main pristine.

I'm happy with my method its not a huge faff!

They do make liquid paints. Mehron and a few others for instance. And, another thought would be to make the dippy paint in a squeeze bottle and squeeze out blobs of it as needed into a pallet. Thus it stays sealed and so on.

Ultimately, working from a pallet and one use brushes is the most sanitary option, especially when working on lots of people.

I did try something the last time I had to work with a lot of people... The prep work was a bit much, but I know I kept things sanitary.

I ran my wolfe through a pasta wringer, so it was thin and flat, and stored it between layers of food safe plastic. When I need some, I cut off a small "Chicklet size piece of paint, put it on pallet, and when from there. Also use this kid of technique to mae

Sounds a bit like the rigmarole Shannon has to go through for the Canadian laws!
I think that may be a reason she likes the creme pumps Fantasy World Wide make.
However I can't be doing with paint that stays wet on the skin like that, it did my head in...

I like the squeeze bottle idea! I have "Beauty-so-Clean" in my kit for disinfection (takes 10 seconds) but what if you mixed the paint with some white vinegar in addition to the water to inhibit germs?

Vinegar near the eyes? Err - no thanks!

Plus if you add anything except water to the paints it will probably invalidate your face-paint insurance AND any insurance the paint company has.

I wouldn't even add that beauty stuff, I saw them at IMATS and tbh as far as I can see its overkill in the face paint industry, just getting at people's paranoia. Does it actually state if they are Ok'd by all the brands you use? As the rules to get FDA (etc) approval are fairly strict and I imagine only cover the mixing up/ testing of whatever the paint company sent in which would always be in their products.

If you are only painting clean faces, using clean kit and sponges and NOT leaving nice liquid breeding ground wet bits on the paint (which is what this was about), just a dampened sponge on the paint should be fine for its 'cleanliness'...

Cat

I don't use my dippy pots for near the eyes, for kiddos I switch to be kind to parents Paradise. (But wouldn't it work?)