Acrylic Mix Ratio

[Charlene]

I have read the tutorial on acrylic mix ratio and i think its great but for some reason i just have trouble with it. Im not too bad with white powder but with pink's and clear i just cant seem to obtain the right ratio. When i pick my bead up it appears to be to dry with powder left and mixed at the top of the bead but when i place it down i think the bead sinks more than it should! I also tend to have product still on my brush after placing the bead. I sometimes also have problems just placing it - bead not leaving brush when placing down. Does anyone have any suggestions? Am I missing something? Thank you Charlene.

 

[Kim Lawless]

Is your brush clean? It might be contaminated.

Also, are you pressing the bead before waiting a couple of secs?

 

[Charlene]

Yes i believe the brush is clean as I just purchased a new one. Can brushes be cleaned with just monomer? I have waited a few secons and then pressed the bead. I dont know what I'm doing wrong. It may have to do with the powder being left at the top but i dont understand why this happens. I've tried holding my brush at a slight angle and dragging a line, kind of scoopin and I've also tried holding the brush directly upright and dragging the line. I have a size 8 brush - its not straight cut at the bottom kind of a v-shape - would this matter? Thank you.

 

[jnail]

Hi there Charlene
Click on the link below
http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?p=169937#post169937




hTh
XX J XX

 

[Charlene]

Thanks for that! Because its a new brush i can't help to think its to do with my mix ratio. Is it possible? Thanks Charlene.

 

[Glorsclaws]

Hi,
It does indeed sound to me like your ratio is off.
I think you you may need to practice taking different amounts of liquid out of your brush because although your bead may look right on the end ofyour brush when you take it from the powder, if the brush is holding too much liquid, it will feed the bead with the excess liquid as you try to work and make it gloopy....as one who used to work too wet...I know! :o
Try doing some practice beads on a piece of plastic card (like in class), see which beads 'dome,' which stick to your brush, too dry etc.

 

[colorflair]

Practice like Glo says and I also find that resting your wrist on the edge of your work station when dipping your brush into the powder rather than hovering above it (with your elbow in the air ? does that make sense?) really seems to work great

Good luck Hon xx

 

[Jeni Giles]

Yes i believe the brush is clean as I just purchased a new one. Can brushes be cleaned with just monomer? I have waited a few secons and then pressed the bead. I dont know what I'm doing wrong. It may have to do with the powder being left at the top but i dont understand why this happens. I've tried holding my brush at a slight angle and dragging a line, kind of scoopin and I've also tried holding the brush directly upright and dragging the line. I have a size 8 brush - its not straight cut at the bottom kind of a v-shape - would this matter? Thank you.

Is this happening after you have done a few nails? What you are describing sounds like you may not be getting all of the product out of your brush before you are getting another bead. It doesn't seem to affect the white as much because it has a little creamier consistancy and it's usually what sticks in our brushes to give us struggles with the clear or pink.

After you have gotten your white where you want it, and you are ready to move on to pink or clear, look and watch carefully as you pull your brush out of the monomer. When you drain the excess out look at it and see if it still has traces of white powder coming out. Does your monomer get cloudy or thick? If this is happening, after your product is in place but before going into the monomer, wipe your brush on a table towel.

My students often have the same problem as you are describing and it is usually traced back to leaving a small amount of white in the brush before picking up the pink or clear. HTH

 

[Charlene]

Thanks for eveyone's suggestions. I will try them all out and look more closely. It's just so strange that upon picking up the bead I think its too dry because there is excess powder at the top of my bead. But upon placing it, it seems to wet as it sinks more than it should. I'm confused

 

[emma's nails]

if you thik its your ratio, you could get a piece of paper and draw some circles on it (vary the sizes from 1mm - 5 mm).

place it under a piece of plastic (one of the plastic sleeves from an A4 folder or failing that cling film). pick up different size beads with your brush and put them on the circles. you should be able to watch each bead settle to the size of each circle without having a ring of monomer around it.

this will help you to adjust the size of your beads and also your mix ratio.

just a thought, it helped me to start with.

 

[Envy]

What liquid & powder system are you using and what sort of brush?
The reason I ask is this will make a big difference to your mix ratio.

I have found, if you have cheap brushes that they can give a false impression of good mix ratio.. Often holding and releasing much more liquid than you need. Also depending on the brand you mix ratio will actually be quite different. CND is a medium wet ratio, 1 and a half parts liquid to one part powder. Ie once you've picked up your bead it should take you till you say going, going, gone before all of the powder is absorbed.
HTH

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Hi there,
Also another thought, when you are going from white to pink or clear powder do you change our monomer ???
White polymer has more pigment and the residue often collects in the bottom of the dappen dish and then throws of your ratio if you are wanting to pick up pink or clear polymer....
I use fresh monomer when changing from white to pink.....and clean my brush in clean monomer before the change over, so I know I have got a clean brush, that will give me a crisp pink coating.....
ALso try not draggin your brush through the polymer, dip your brush in the monomer wipe x times as needed and then place it in the the polymner , let your brush do the work for you, this also reduces air bubbles that can be picked up via the dragging method....
I always rest my brush hand on a closed polymer pot, this gives me a shake free pick up....
just a thought

 

[Charlene]

Thanks guys - I will definitely practice on some circles on plastic card.

I have used ezflow brand with a size 7 brush. Now I'm trying Le Beauty Brand with a size 8 brush - not sure what kind - flags kind of forms a v at the bottom. Would any of these things be affecting my ratio?

I understand ratio - but in the way of picking up a bead how can u measure ratio? Is this a silly question? Also what brand is CND? Thanks again.

I will also try not dragging the brush in the powder but instead letting my brush do the work.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Kim Lawless]

Hi there,
White polymer has more pigment and the residue often collects in the bottom of the dappen dish and then throws of your ratio if you are wanting to pick up pink or clear polymer....
I use fresh monomer when changing from white to pink.....and clean my brush in clean monomer before the change over, so I know I have got a clean brush, that will give me a crisp pink coating.....
just a thought

I never knew that Ruth. Thanks for that tip. xx

 

[ZOE!]

Thats great advice ruth, i sometimes have that problem and am going to try changing my liquid when applying pink. One question though, how do you do this, i mean do you use two dappen dishes so it is less fiddly? cheers.x

 

[Fab Freak]

Hi there Ruth

Reading your post above does this mean you do all you zone 1's first then?

 

[Glorsclaws]

Brilliant explanation from Roofie... I never knew the white had a heavier pigment either!
The way I work is... do all my white zone ones first, clean brush, use fresh monomer to move onto zone 2/3 pinks.
I do sometimes work differently and have two lots of monomer on the go, both my containers are diff so easy to see which monomer is for which area.

 

[Urban Geek]

Hi Louise,

I often use two dappen dishes with monomer in each - one for my white powder and one for my pink. (When using pink and white powders, your monomer gets more contaminated.) That may be what Ruth means, although I might be wrong.

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Hi Louise,
Yes I do all my whites first when I tip and overlay...discard the used monomer, safley lol, and use fresh for my pink.

and yes Chris thats is exactly what I mean.....lol......xxx

I don't do all my smile lines first, when I sculpt
I have two lidded dappen dishes with monomer
I do my white sculpted tip
Clean brush on lint free pad soaked in a little scrubfresh
Then move onto dappen dish two and use the pink polymer....
Switching between the two monomers as I need......

Like Envy said a good brush is the key to a great bead.....
Trial beads on a clear sheet of plastic like mentioned before is a great way to practice bead control.........

 

[Jen Smith]

I was having the very same problem Charlene. I had some help on a skill building day a couple of weeks ago and its much improved. What they found I was doing, was not wiping my brush 'properly' after dipping in monomer. I would wipe it 'across' the dappen dish, 4, 5 even 6 or more times and the tutor showed me there was STILL too much monomer left in my belly of the brush. I should have been 'pulling' the whole of the brush upwards and squeezing the monomer out of the brush from the flanks of the brush all the way down to the tip. Now I have the opposite problem .. my mix is too dry lol!!!

So instead of wiping at an angle, wipe upwards and flat if thats the correct way of describing. You could give it a go and see if it helps any