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Help needed about accidentally melted latex on sculpture
Hello!
Not sure if I'm writing in a correct cateory but I really need your advice:
I've made a mistake and left my finished latex sculpture near the window and the sun melted some parts of it. Now those parts are in a always sticky form. Is there any way that you know how to dry it back or to fix that from spreading and damaging further at least?
I'm thinking about adding some varnish for decoupage on top of damaged areas so it won't be sticky at least. Also I was planning to paint the whole sculpture with oil paint mixed with rubber cement so maybe just this would solve the sticky problem anyways?
Also I remember from childhood that I had couple of fishing rubber baits which I kept in a box with my toys ( obviously hidden from the sun's heat) but they melted in a same way as my sculpture anyways. So maybe you have any special advices about how to store safe finished latex sculptures?
Thank you!
Not sure if I'm writing in a correct cateory but I really need your advice:
I've made a mistake and left my finished latex sculpture near the window and the sun melted some parts of it. Now those parts are in a always sticky form. Is there any way that you know how to dry it back or to fix that from spreading and damaging further at least?
I'm thinking about adding some varnish for decoupage on top of damaged areas so it won't be sticky at least. Also I was planning to paint the whole sculpture with oil paint mixed with rubber cement so maybe just this would solve the sticky problem anyways?
Also I remember from childhood that I had couple of fishing rubber baits which I kept in a box with my toys ( obviously hidden from the sun's heat) but they melted in a same way as my sculpture anyways. So maybe you have any special advices about how to store safe finished latex sculptures?
Thank you!
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Comments
With latex being an organic rubber there are a lot of things that can degrade it. Over time it will basically rot. Exposure to heat and UV from sunlight can speed up that process.
Your best bet is to seal the latex with a top coat, then you should be able to paint as desired. Varnish may work. In the past, I've used clear spray paint, but that was when the latex was not degraded.
I would do a small test patch and see if your top coat works as desire, then move forward from there.
Latex can also be damaged by oils, so be sure and put a few protective layers down before using oil-based paints on it.
Sorry to hear about your sculpture! It's never easy when hard work gets damaged in any way.
/Chris