When your journey into Cold Wax medium gets serious there will come a time when you want, or need to make your own. I make my own as I had the equipment already from my Encaustic painting days, it is much cheaper than the store brands and the ingredients are readily available….and I use a lot! I call mine SalCera… Cera is Spanish for wax😊
You will need beeswax pellets, I get mine from Livemore, a resin, I use Galkyd but any alkyd resin, or Dakar resin (NOT Damar varnish) and a solvent. I use Gamsol, it’s odorless and biodegradable, other odourless mineral spirits are available but make sure you use a pure one, few DIY store ones are good enough, don’t try to cut corners, save the cheap stuff for cleaning up. I find turpentine far to toxic and the citrus turpenoids give me a headache….just because something is described as natural doesnt mean your body will like it!
Ingredients
- 200g beeswax pellets
- 200ml Gamsol
- 40ml Galkyd
You will also need a hot plate or griddle, don’t use direct heat. A metal jug, I use a jam-making jug. Scales, a container to mix fluids in, wooden stick for stirring and a tin to put your CWM in, I use a clean 0.75l paint tin.
thanks for sharing this
Thanks Gail. I’m planning on doing lots of these so if you have a request let me know…I’ve a head full of otherwise useless knowledge😂
Hi Sally, this is great, thank you!!
I’ve previously used Gum Damar to make my cold wax medium but found the crystals didn’t dissolve very easily. What is Galkyd, is it a liquid form of gum damar (I’m really not a techie scientist type person!!)? I have some so I’m going to try your recipe. Does it make the dry finish shiny?
A friend uses just wax pellets and solvent but I found this doesn’t dry very quickly so I don’t quite trust it!
Hope all is well with you?
Caroline xx
Hi Caroline, you need a resin to help it dry, keep it flexible and help it adhere? Dorlands and Zest-it use Damar, Gamblin uses Galkyd in their CWM which is a soy based alkyd resin. Much easier to use than damar as its liquid…and dries matt. Hope that helps! I’m fine, back in UK december.xx.
Thanks Sally, I thought so, was just confused by someone saying you don’t need resin! Perhaps we’ll manage to meet up this time! Xx
In theory you dont if you are working on panel but…..yes definitely meet up!
When I started this journey, I was taught to melt the beeswax in the microwave (in a glass jar), then add an equal amount of odorless thinner to the jar and shake it until it’s completely mixed. The teacher didn’t add any resin. Can you tell me what the resin adds and if there is a way I can use the microwave and still use the resin, if it’s needed? Thanks so much.
Hi, The resins adds flexibility. Yes you can use a microwave but gently, it melts fast! Best to add thinner when it’s slightly cooled but still melted.
I made a batch but it was a bit lumpy so i thought the wax didn’t mix properly, so I put the mixture back in the slow cooker to re-melt it, but it seemed the mixture split. All the galkyd separated and gathered in a sticky mess at the bottom. I think i’ll have to start again with a new batch. A little set back, but a lesson learned.
If the wax is too hot that can happen. Fish out the lump and bin it, but you can either GENTLY reheat the wax just enough to allow you to stir in more alkyd, or remember to add alkyd with each mix when you are painting. Do it in a well ventilated area as the solvent can give off fumes when heated.
Thanks Sally. I’ll try that. I’m going to do a new batch tomorrow.
I do it outside, so no worries about fumes.
Thank you so much! Gamblin cold wax has been out of stock for months and I’m running low.
😊
Thank you for providing/sharing your recipe as buying pre-made is expensive for fairly small amount. How much end product does it make please?
It fills a 473ml/16oz tin
I did my usual of not checking the method before starting, and just put everything together in a glass jar and stirred it with a chopstick. No heat involved at all. Turned out really well…took a day or so for the fine wax pellets to dissolve, but the end product is a lovely consistency, so this will now be my go-to for CWM..
Now that IS interesting!! Thank you!
Can i use filtered beeswax that comes in blocks instead of pellets? (It is what i used tor encaustic painting)
Yes,I haven’t but no reason why they shouldn’t work just as well. ☺