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Caps breaking on tubes of paint.

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D Hillman

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I wonder whether it is worth buying bigger tubes of paint if this is whats going to occur. As you see I stuck some pencils in to act as some sort of bung but not really resealable and lots of usable paint still in these tubes. Is this a common problem, any suggestions or comments?

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by Daveyboyz

Syd Edward

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I think you may be heavy handed as I have been using tubes for at least fifty years and have never broken a cap. I used to. keepused caps just in case and the disaster never happened. Try cotting bits of indiarubber to give a good fit to keep the air out amd write the paint maker for new caps. btw how did you manage to break the caps as they are not usually fragile? Syd

D Hillman

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I haven't used these for a while and rather than unscrew the plastic on the thread just seperates from the cap. It wasn't even a struggle, literally just twisted the cap and rather than unscrew it broke.

Michael Robinson

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I don't think you are alone. Our local art supply shop stopped stocking this brand for the same reason. Apparently they had a lot of complaints about broken caps, referred it to DR more than once, apparently not interested.

D Hillman

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I grabbed some clingfilm but I think these paints are going to be dead sooner rather than later... I bet it happens with my other tubes too. (I just had 6 big tubes, the primary colours, black white and Burnt Sienna) I have some large pots of Black and White on their way and a set of small tubes which will be handy as I will be doing some grass and the greens will be convenient... I will salvage what I can from the big tubes but at least I will have the small ones to fall back on... I now have 4 paintings in my head... I have started sketching out two of them on canvas, my canvasses are quite small so I am guessing I won't use too much paint, and the way I work I never dilute the paint but nor do I build up layers... I would imagine I have enough paint for the job... I forgot how long it takes me to sketch out my idea's though... I am really going to burn up some time on these but what I lack in skill I tend to make up for in patience....
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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The way to avoid this happening is to clean the thread on the tube when you've squeezed out the paint you need, with a damp piece of kitchen roll, so the acrylic doesn't bond with the plastic lid and set like concrete. Cryla is one of my standard brands of acrylic: I have had this happen, and the cling film doesn't unfortunately seem to work very well: the paint at the nozzle still dries, although you can release some of it by poking a sharp object through the congealing paint (being careful that you don't go right through the tube and stab yourself). If this has happened, you can block the tube end altogether, and unroll the tube from the bottom, rolling it back up again when you've gained access to the usable paint. Once it's started to dry in the tube, though, and this is true of any acrylic, it needs to be dumped. As to Daler-Rowney .... they haven't been particularly responsive to requests for help for some time, and their website forum seems to be moribund, or was when I last looked. They've been recently taken over - whether this will improve things or make them worse is anybody's guess, but I would suggest contacting them at customer services: provided the nozzle of the tubes is kept clean, this should be a rarity; the D-R caps are actually easier to undo than those of some other brands, but their design does make them a bit more fragile. Once upon a time, paint tubes had metal caps - then they went to quite sturdy plastic ones - and now, companies save as much money as they can on the packaging, using lighter-weight plastics that aren't really up to the job. It's not just D-R. I agree it's frustrating, but it does help if the tubes are kept clean: and if you discover they're stuck, dip them in hot water for a few minutes - with any luck that'll expand the plastic, soften any adhering paint, and enable you to remove the cap without breaking it.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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By the way - if you leave your tubes for long periods, and you haven't cleaned the nozzle, the paint does get harder and harder - maybe get 'em out a bit more often?

D Hillman

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My last painting was 2013, which means relatively I have been a hive of activity... there seems to be no issue with "hardness" I have heard some claim that acrylics dry up of lose their viscosity but these still seem to be moist enough. I am intending to get the paints out a bit more often but my creativity manifests in a host of ways, since my last painting I have made some cabinets, a chess set out of silver with board and a very elaborate oriental style dress. I just get these peculiar ideas come over me and then I get carried away with them...