Gum Arabic Solution
Oct. 25th, 2025 08:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellerJust what the title says: I made my own gum arabic solution. I want to make my own watercolor binder (yes, I'm trying to save money XD what else?), which needs some more additives (glycerine and clove oil, neither of which I have at home - yet), but... This was pretty straightforward, and I thought I'd share some pictures of the process.
(Crossposted over at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
prototypediablerie, a community for DIY things.)
So, I went to the art supply store and bought me some tree blood. XD
Ahem. That's 250g of gum arabic, straight from the tree - and dirt cheap because it's straight from the tree. (I'm serious: there's pieces of bark still clinging to the gum, and I had to remove a small twig from the bag as well. This has seen exactly zero processing.)
I filled it into a large jar. Originally, it held instant coffee, but, well, that's gone already (and it was very nice, as far as instant coffee goes), so I can re-use it for my art supplies. Ironically, buying an empty glass jar of the same size (I think it holds a bit more than 500ml; I did not measure this) is more expensive than one with coffee in it, so, whatever - yes, yes, bean coffee is nicer than instant, but I refuse to pay extra for not getting any coffee! XD (And, anyway, the coffee was surprisingly nice, just needed some milk and sugar.)
I covered this with distilled water. This was probably a waste of distilled water - with all the crap that's swimming in this solution, taking tap water is unlikely to make any kind of significant difference in terms of trace elements and whatnot. Anyway, the dissolution happened very fast (a lot faster than I had been led to believe) and, within only a few hours, got this muddy result that admittedly scared me a bit at first. But, hey, that's what coffee filters are for, right? RIGHT?
TA-DAA! The result is clear and beautiful! :D It's not completely colorless, but neither is the "professional" solution I can buy, so... I guess it's just as good. It's a bit thinner (because, otherwise, I'd have no way to filter it without a high-tech apparatus) but that's okay, it dries just fine, just takes a bit longer. And, by the way, the chunks of gum arabic have not completely dissolved yet, so I simply refilled the jar and will hopefully get even more gum arabic solution. Which I'm going to need for my private watercolor production.
I'm very happy this worked so well. :3
(Crossposted over at
prototypediablerie, a community for DIY things.)So, I went to the art supply store and bought me some tree blood. XD
Ahem. That's 250g of gum arabic, straight from the tree - and dirt cheap because it's straight from the tree. (I'm serious: there's pieces of bark still clinging to the gum, and I had to remove a small twig from the bag as well. This has seen exactly zero processing.)
I filled it into a large jar. Originally, it held instant coffee, but, well, that's gone already (and it was very nice, as far as instant coffee goes), so I can re-use it for my art supplies. Ironically, buying an empty glass jar of the same size (I think it holds a bit more than 500ml; I did not measure this) is more expensive than one with coffee in it, so, whatever - yes, yes, bean coffee is nicer than instant, but I refuse to pay extra for not getting any coffee! XD (And, anyway, the coffee was surprisingly nice, just needed some milk and sugar.)
I covered this with distilled water. This was probably a waste of distilled water - with all the crap that's swimming in this solution, taking tap water is unlikely to make any kind of significant difference in terms of trace elements and whatnot. Anyway, the dissolution happened very fast (a lot faster than I had been led to believe) and, within only a few hours, got this muddy result that admittedly scared me a bit at first. But, hey, that's what coffee filters are for, right? RIGHT?
TA-DAA! The result is clear and beautiful! :D It's not completely colorless, but neither is the "professional" solution I can buy, so... I guess it's just as good. It's a bit thinner (because, otherwise, I'd have no way to filter it without a high-tech apparatus) but that's okay, it dries just fine, just takes a bit longer. And, by the way, the chunks of gum arabic have not completely dissolved yet, so I simply refilled the jar and will hopefully get even more gum arabic solution. Which I'm going to need for my private watercolor production.
I'm very happy this worked so well. :3
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Date: 2025-10-26 06:37 pm (UTC)Freya Stark definitely had an interesting life. A tremendous part of that was that she was determined not to settle for the familiar, but to explore and connect with people in places that were new to her, despite the difficulties and risks that came with those choices.