Consistency of release?

[teachertracey]

Is it a "whatever you like" sort of thing or should it be a general consistency? I tend to make mine a little thinner than how it arrives. Today I got a new bottle of Fusion and it seems rather thick to me. Of course I'm out of distilled water, so I dipped anyhow.

Suggestions? I've looked and find different info. and I'm easily confused. :hide::grin:

[Carolyn M]

I always thin mine.

[neagle]

I use Dip-N-Go Sludge and always thin with water. I use it pretty thin, too, and almost never get a stuck bead.

[mtnglass]

I use Dip-N-Go Sludge and always thin with water. I use it pretty thin, too, and almost never get a stuck bead.

Ditto on this. If I get it on too thick it has a tendency to crack.

Julie

[tiggybubba]

I thin with tap water. But our water is pretty neutral, not hard, not soft. I had to add a bunch to my fusion last week. I like it pretty thin too.

[teachertracey]

I'm hoping that the thickness today doesn't crack tomorrow. But I did stop and buy some distilled water tonight. Just in case.

[lunamoonshadow]

Tracey--I've thinned my fusion with EVERYTHING--seriously--& it's been fine--tap water, bottled water, poland spring, well water, chlorinated city water from the tap, even "fizzy" carbonated water once when I was outside--& it works FINE--it's never made a bit of difference in it. Fusion just doesn't seem to be as fussy as other bead releases--I even reconstituted mine from a couple pastey lumps & some dried crust on the sides of the jar where I left it in storage for 3 years & THAT worked fine too--it's NEVER grown mold or mildew, never flaked, chipped, nothing.

I've used mandrels I've dipped 6 months ago & they're perfect & I've even used a couple that sat outside for an entire winter a couple years ago when I was torching outside (I forgot them under the porch in a flower pot--they sat out all winter :lol:) & those worked fine too. I just :love: fusion. It's sooooo easy to work with & soooo not fussy!

I've never even *bought* a bottle of distilled water! :D
~luna

[maren]

I've never even *bought* a bottle of distilled water! :D
~luna

Me neither. My husband has, for washing telescope mirrors.

It wouldn't have occurred to me to use anything else than tap water for bead release, but then, we have good tap water.

[kebira]

I think the problem most newer beaders encounter, at least from reading posts, is release cracking and popping off mandrels.I know I did.With trial and error, I've concluded most releases are way too thick to use "as-is" from the packaging container. The thicker it is,the more difficult it is for the water in the release to reach the surface of the mandrel during drying.And the faster you dry,(flame or quick- kilning), the better the chance of "locking" water under a surface crust.That's the mechanism for popping when you hit the mandrel in the flame.Same way popcorn pops,steam"explosion" from rapid high heat.Thinned down and air-dried, the water has a chance to get off.I think a lot of brands would work thinned out. A note to all makers of release: Take a random sampling of your shelf stock and note ,with the same dismay as your customers,what a poor choice you've made in packaging your company's net worth!

[honey*bee]

I use Super Blue Sludge and always thin with water and don't ever have an issue. I let the dipped mandrels dry naturally for the most part but sometimes I get impatient and flame dry one or two and it still works just fine. I love it!

[teachertracey]

I used the mandrels yesterday and not a single cracking episode. Now we'll see how the beads come off today...

[lunamoonshadow]

Tracey--one of the things I :love: about Fusion is that it's incredibly forgiving--I tend to overthin it (yup) & it still works--and it works after 6 months of air drying OR after flame drying (if I run out of mandrels I dip as I torch, but I always dip a batch & if they're 6 months old, they work fine too :lol:) Seriously, you can "reconstitute" it dozens of times, (I mix mine with a mandrel as well as shaking it--that was I can stir the edges, scrape the bottle & really see how it "feels" & keep dipping & to see if it needs more water or not!) It seems to work fine over-thinned OR overly thick (but I'm cheap & like to stretch things out forever!)
I just love the stuff :)

[Sherry]

This is my obligatory Bucket '0 Mud post, lol. I have it very thick indeed in the bottle, but I pull the mandrels out incredibly slowly, and they have a super thin, almost sheer coating of release. I touch the end to the inside rim of the bottle to drain off the 'bead' of release on the end...I don't want that dripping down and causing a ridge.

It takes forever for me to dip mandrels, I'm very particular, very fussy.

[AKDesigns]

I'd say mine is the consistency of cake batter. I use Sludge Plus or Dip & Go.

[teachertracey]

As thick as it was to me, every single bead slipped off just as easily as could be. Happy ending.

[SadiesJewels]

I use Fusion ... thinnish ... like single cream not milk. Leave it 24 hrs at least but will work like this for (????).

I've found if I try to use it before the 24 hours I get cracking but after that it seems fine forever!

[PerfectDeb]

i dip mine very thin too, i pull them out really slowly - but thats just come back an bit me in the arse cos now the holes are too small for the silver tubing to fit, dammit!:evil: