Wheat paste, How thick?

[MadMat]

How thick do you make your wheat paste? I have tried different thicknesses from still pourable to pudding-like. I have noticed pros and cons to both. So... How thick do you make it?

[memo]

mine is pudding like, tried thinner, just kind of went back to the pudding. just started putting some copper sulfate in it, the ants were eating the wheat past right off the shells

 

memo

Edited December 20, 2015 by memo

[nater]

Make it thinner for use on heavier weight paper and thicker for use on light weight paper. I make it like a thin pudding for 30 lb kraft and like a thin gravy for 60 and 60 lb kraft.

[Mumbles]

Are you making your own paste, or using the dried stuff you just mix with water? With the dry stuff, I make it 6:1 water to paste by weight for most things. If I'm going to bind stars or comets, I usually use 8:1 or 10:1.

 

When cooking flour, it always seems to come out thicker or thickens over time. The same 6:1 ratio of water to flour is usually too thick, or at least I tend to cook it too long. I normally cook it at this level, and thin it back out from there.

[nater]

Mumbles,

 

I always cook flour 6:1 to start and thin it further, even for thin paper. Once it cools it is thick like jelly. I think it is easier to make a batch thicker and thin it as needed, especially if I plan on using one batch over 2 or 3 days for a project.

[MadMat]

I cook wheat flour. I've gone from 5:1 to 7:1 water/flour. The thinner stuff soaks into the paper faster. The thicker stuff has more tack, but is messier and builds up (sometimes thats good though!) Yes, I usually find it necessary to thin it out with water, especially after refrigerating it for the second time I use it.

[Stef727]

 

just started putting some copper sulfate in it, the ants were eating the wheat past right off the shells

memo

 

I add a little bit of salt to my paste, and then store it in the fridge, salt kills bacteria etc so it holds for a week no problem.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Stef727