Silicone for Acrylic Pour Paintings – what is it and where to buy in the UK

I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos about acrylic pour painting and doing some initial trials myself. My friend on blipfoto, Gennepher, is trying things out too. In a lot of these videos they talk about adding a few drops of silicone to achieve cells. But what actually is silicone?

Acrylic Pour Painting Example

Here is an example video from Caren Goodrich. I like her easy and informative style of video, and because she speaks very clearly the auto generated subtitles seem very accurate. This video shows the cells that make these paintings special.

Another useful video for supplies – Beginner’s Guide: Basic Supplies For Acrylic Paint Pouring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqgmCnGF7QU

In the description of her videos are links to the materials she uses. These are affiliate links to Amazon, which is a good way to support her, but they are to the USA site, so that makes it difficult if like me you are in the UK. Things available in USA are not necessarily available in the UK. You could ship them, but for a high cost and a long delivery time, which is crazy if there is a locally available alternative that will do the same job.

Caren’s link for silicone is to “100% Silicone Treadmill Belt Lubricant – Easy Squeeze / Controlled Flow Premium Lube”, but searching for that product on UK Amazon site, it doesn’t appear to be available. Here is her link to check it out http://amzn.to/2qNHUnt

In the above video she uses Novaplex 233 pouring medium. This is a product by Nova Color, which is a Canadian company. Website with the order form here: http://www.novacolorpaint.com/orderform.htm. As with silicone the shipping to UK would be needless expense when there are equivalent products, but it is a matter of finding them and knowing how to use them. But this post is about silicone so I will stick to that topic and do a separate one for pouring medium another time.

What is the chemistry of silicone?

When people who demo this technique refer to ‘silicone‘ they are actually meaning ‘silicone oil‘.

Silicone is a common name for polysiloxanes, or more correctly polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS), which are polymers based on repeat units of siloxane.

Silicones consist of an inorganic silicon-oxygen backbone chain (⋯-Si-O-Si-O-Si-O-⋯) with organic side groups attached to the silicon atoms. These silicon atoms are tetravalent. So, silicones are polymers constructed from inorganic-organic monomers. Silicones have in general the chemical formula [R2SiO]n, where R is an organic group such as an alkyl (methyl, ethyl) or phenyl group. (Source and more info Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone).

When I learnt chemistry at school and university, I only remember learning about organic polymers (plastics) made from long chains of organic chemicals based around a chain of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms and other molecules branching off. Carbon and Silicon are elements in the same column in the periodic table. They have the same valency (number of electrons that can form bonds), so this makes sense to me that silicon can also form chains. The longer and more branched the chains the more solid the material is as a result.

I am familiar with silcone cooking products, cooking tools, baking trays, etc. The material is solid and has heat resistance. These products are made from ‘silicone rubber’.

I also knew that there is silicone in some shampoos, and in lubricants, and the stuff you put around as a sealant for your bath. These products are different chemical formulas based on the same starting molecules.

What is the cheapest way to buy silicone oil in the UK?

First I tried searching for “treadmill silicone oil” when I couldn’t find the exact product from the link on Caren Goodrich’s video. There are lots of products available of varying price. Only a few drops are needed per cup of mixed paint, so it seems for a beginner the smallest and cheapest amount is something to aim for.

On ebay, I found this 50ml bottle of Treadmill Silicone Oil for £3.72 + 80p postage = £4.52
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50ml-Silicone-Oil-Universal-Multi-treadmill-lubricant-mould-release-stamp-pad/152537310742

On Amazon 30ml JLL Universal Treadmill silicone oil £3.99 free UK delivery
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Treadmill-oil-lubricate-equipment/dp/B00B1TICT0/ref=sr_1_7

I was wondering what other silicone oil products there were and that I could buy on the high street perhaps, without having to wait for delivery.

It seems that you can get gun oil that is a silicone product, but mostly it is more of an expensive item and there are not so many gun shops around. I just mention that in case anyone happens to have any gun oil already. Have a look if it is silicone based.

From Amazon: 30ml Abbey Silicone Gun Oil 35 Gun Rifle Car Shooting Airsoft £4.94 free UK delivery https://www.amazon.co.uk/ABBEY-SILICONE-RIFLE-SHOOTING-AIRSOFT/dp/B00AZK13EC

However, it also seems there is a personal lubricant product brand called Gun Oil that also contains silicone – https://www.gunoil.co.uk/products/gun-oil-silicone – interesting history – it did start out as oil for guns and soldiers found other uses for it! https://www.gunoil.co.uk/about

There are various lubricants for cars and bikes that may be possible to get hold of in hardware or vehicle shops. For example:

From Wickes: WD-40 Specialist High Performance Silicone 250ml £3.74 http://www.wickes.co.uk/WD-40-Specialist-High-Performance-Silicone-250ml/p/144012

(Note: This is not ordinary/original WD-40, which is a mineral oil based lubricant not silicone.)

From Halfords: Silicone lubricant spray 400ml £3.99 http://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-fluids/grease/halfords-silicone-lubricant-400ml

***Late addition – purchased from local independent DIY shop – Tableau Dry Lube Super-slip Silicone Lubricant, 200ml, aerosol spray with directional straw, £4.49 https://www.tableauproducts.com/categories/dry-lube/4****

From Homebase: WD-40 Specialist High Performance Silicone Lubricant £4.98 http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/wd-40-specialist-high-performance-silicone-lubricant-355670

What does the WT number mean?

Engine and bike oils seem to come with a WT number and have a variety of these. So what does that mean and what would be best for art purposes?

The WT number seems to relate to viscosity (at Winter Temperatures = WT). A higher number is more viscous/thicker. I think for painting purposes want a thinner oil with a lower number.

I found some silicone oils intended for cycling that come in various WT ratings. Perhaps a cycle shop would stock these? Here are some links for online.

CML Racing Pure Silicone Oil 30WT £2.84 + £3.50 postage = £6.34 https://wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/72425/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzqCn5OXl1QIVYbvtCh0xnQtKEAQYAyABEgLg0vD_BwE

This is the lowest WT rated silicone oil I have found. Fastrax Pure Silicone Shock Oil 15wt (50ml) FAST60-15 £4.08 free UK postage
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fastrax-Pure-Silicone-Shock-Oil-15wt-50ml-FAST60-15-/371931428129

Final Words

I haven’t tried any of the above products, except the Tableau Dry Lube Super-slip Silicone Lubricant. I am not recommending them and I don’t gain anything from any of the links. I am just providing this as examples of things which might work and might be possible to get hold of at an economic price. I have been achieving cells by spraying the silicone lubricant into a cup (outside to avoid fumes) and then tipping a few drops of the liquid into my paints and only stirring a little. So far I am getting better cells with the swiping technique. The image below is my first one that worked with the cells.

Copyright Karen Cropper

Wet image, swipe technique.

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11 Responses

  1. Sarah osiecky says:

    Thankyou this was very helpful I am in the uk and have found it very difficult to get silicone,unlike the USA

  2. Jan says:

    I bought the WD40 Silicon from The Range, I think it was £4.99 not tried it yet though. My husband has gun oil, he said it’s a synthetic oil , got to explore that one!

  3. I bought a litre of silicone oil from special plasters in Birmingham the other day for around £10-I don’t know if it’s on their website but they certainly stock it and will send it out.
    They also have very good pigments at great prices

    • Margherita Allan says:

      Hi I’m in NZ and also find it hard to buy or at a decent price ($30+ for 30ml!) Could you supply more details of the brand or details etc, as I looked on their website and there are a few options but nothing that looked right. Thank you in advance if you can help – or anyone else 🙂

      • karencropper says:

        I am no expert. I did this post just to record my own research. I didn’t know what would actually work. Now I have treid a few I feel that oil is nicer to use than a spray but spray does work. When I tried the spray I went outdoors and sprayed into a cup until I had a small amount of liquid in the bottom and then used that with straw with my finger over the end to get a few drops at a time. Do not suck a straw this stuff would be very bad to swallow. A pipette would be best. You only need a very small amount. I went into a hardware store and looked at the ingredients of their lubricants. I’ve just searched online for you and found products in New Zealand branded CRC. There is a CRC 808 Silicone spray that says it is multi-purpose. I found it at $10 at https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz but I suggest you google CRC as they seem to have various silicone lubricant products and then look on their site for stores that are near you or places to buy online.

        The other thing I have seen people using online is hair products with dimethicone as an ingredient. For that you need to look at the ingredients list of the products you have available in local stores. It is the hair oils or serums that might have it in. Search online for info about dimethicone and acrylic pouring. I found this video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUlMT_Ln_rs

  4. M. Nafisi says:

    Thank you for complete description.
    M. Nafisi Iran

  5. Kevin says:

    Do you have any insight into what the ideal viscosity for a silicon oil would be? 100cSt maybe? There are a lot of products out there, but this information is a little difficult to find. And peoples reviews vary greatly in their description of how viscous various products are.

    • karencropper says:

      Sorry, Kevin, I don’t know about the viscosity and I really am no expert on this process. It would be good to know. Are you a member of any pour painting facebook groups? Have you tried asking the question there?

  6. Hi there, I’m from the UK and new to fluid art. Only a week but I’m totally hooked. Attempts on the cheap and exploring products I’ve found your post great for learning. With regards to the model car racing silicone oils. As a racers there’s alot of choice and some oils viscosity differs between brands. But the upside is the range of viscosity available from super thin the very thick.5wt, 10wt, 15wt are the thinnest. My next challenge is to try a silicone oil such as treadmill oil to compare against it. Thanks for all the info.

  7. Patricia says:

    thanks very helpful

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