04/07/2015
Okay... So this is war! Due to bead release woes, I've been out of production for quite a while. I had a wonderful supply of release that is been using for years that never failed. It was a mixture of everything that came through my shop...Fusion, Smooth n tuff, universal, kiln wash and possibly more. My concoction met a messy end sadly as I shook it too vigorously in the shop without holding the lid tightly enough... Sigh (that was NOT a fun mess to clean up.... ALWAYS hold your lid well!!!).
So... I ordered what I thought was working for me, Smooth n Tuff. Right off the bat this was not working well. It was thick and had large chunky crystaly bits in it? Tried it as is and it flaked like mad. The ones that did hold left a lot of internal residue in the bead hole which is very evident in transparent beads due to the lumps. So... I added distilled water. Better consistency but the chunks were crazy apparent now! Waited for done to dry and gently rubbed off the chunks. This method improved things but the release is still flakey and looks awful after cleaning in the hole.
Time to go back to square one! Bought a few new bottles to try and I've cleaned all my mandrels thoroughly.... Let's see what happens!!!! Anyone else having woes like this with Smooth n Tuff? Talk about annoying!