Q-tip/Cotton swab alternatives for wiping oil washes

[K0rtmer]

I'm wanting to learn to do oil washes and enjoyed myself a lot playing around with paints and mineral spirits for a bit now. But I'm not sure if I can deal with the idea of using q-tips (cotton swabs) to wipe excess wash off raised parts of my models ... because I can easily see myself commissioning large numbers of them to landfill. Which is where they rot (not) for the next couple thousand years. Doesn't feel right. There's enough plastic trash in the world already. 

 

So I'm wanting to find sustainable alternatives. Cotton pads won't do it, they lose too much material across sharp edges and spiky bits, and having to pull bits of cotton off a slow-drying wash isn't exactly conducive to painting. 

 

Please let me know if you have any ideas. Thank you.

[Tyberos the Red Wake]

Do you use plastic handled swabs? My household is pretty cheap when it comes to disposables, so we use the cheaper white handled swabs, which just have paper or whatever probably recyclable and green material it is for the handles.

[Stoic Raptor]

If you want something re-usable, try the makeup swabs.  The pad is foam instead of cotton.  I suppose you could clean one just the same way as a brush.

[Major_Gilbear]

Ladies makeup sponges for applying eyeshadow, like these. I'm pretty sure you can get them cheaper if you shop around too.

 

For cleaning, I'd suggest some brush soap, just like for your brushes. This soap will clean oil paints out of artists' brushes too, so it should work well enough for what you're doing.

 

Hope that helps. :)

[Ovidius Incertus]

A combination of brushes (wiped off on a towel) and foam makeup applicators of the "pen" variety the Major linked to, or the triangle variety, which are actually good for getting into recesses, plus you can tear them apart if you want.  Although Tamiya and others sell them in their weather kits, you might as well just get them from the local drug store.

[K0rtmer]

Thanks for your replies, everyone. Awesome. I'll go try the makeup sponges the next couple days. (Although I'm not really sure what they're made of, to be honest. Might as well something non-degradable.)

 

Good idea to try find q-tips with paper stems. I couldn't find any, but did find some with bamboo sticks. Which is awesome. 

 

Thank you. 

[Stoic Raptor]

Not sure if they are degradable, but they are re-usable.  So, as sustainable as your paint brushes, I'd say.

[Arkhanist]

Thanks for your replies, everyone. Awesome. I'll go try the makeup sponges the next couple days. (Although I'm not really sure what they're made of, to be honest. Might as well something non-degradable.)

 

Good idea to try find q-tips with paper stems. I couldn't find any, but did find some with bamboo sticks. Which is awesome. 

 

Thank you. 

 

searching for organic cotton swabs or biodegradable cotton swabs brings up a number of options with paper or cardboard stems. Actual q-tips have paper stems, for example! Bamboo is also a good material.

 

As for eyeshadow/makeup applicators, they're usually a synthentic sponge/foam, which can be either cellulose (wood fibre) or plastic. Look for biodegradable ones, they'll have cellulose sponges without metal crimps. Ones with crimps do seem to come with wooden handles. You can re-use a sponge a number of times when cleaning with white spirit & brush soap etc so they last a good while, very similar to paint brushes.

 

One advantage of the sponge-on-a-stick option is they don't leave little bits of cotton behind that looser swabs are a bit prone to, which is handy.

Edited October 16, 2017 by Arkhanist