Gooey Paints in a Dehydrator

Well, after nearly losing my mind this summer, I decided that I needed a solution for the gooey paint situation. I've got gooey TAG, DFX, Kryvaline, and Global, even with storage in a dry place, with a fan blowing on them! I noticed that the windowsill method did work well for a TAG cake that was ooey gooey, so I took the plunge and bought a dehydrator. My thinking is that it's just about the same as the windowsill method, just quicker.

I know this has been wondered about in the forum, but I never saw an answer. Let me know if I missed it am and making a terrible mistake, but for now, a sampling of my worst paints (maybe past the point of saving by any other method!) are in the dehydrator, and I'll update in the morning!

Dear Mellygee911:
Please keep me updated on your dehydrator foray. This is my last day at the CNE, and, while I won't have to deal with our team's agony over the gooey white face paint until next year...if I can help us next year, that would be fantastic!

xoxo

I'm going to watch this. I have a dehydrator for my herbs but if I can use it for my dfx neons it would be a lifesaver

I read this last night... I'm curious to know the results as well ^_^

Update:
The dehydrator was on for about 2 hours before I went to bed; my partner said he didn't want me to accidentally fry my paints to a crisp, and made me turn it off. At the point when I turned it off, they were VERY hot and squishy, but none of the colours on the splits were mixing (although I wouldn't have recommended agitating them!) I poked the paints this morning once they had cooled off, and can say with absolutely confidence that they're MUCH firmer, but still not at original hardness.

They're back in the dehydrator for the day, and I'll post again around the end of the day! Just for reference, here's what I put in so far:
TAG Pearl Unicorn
TAG Light blue/ dark blue
TAG pearl white
Kryvaline (Teddy bear?)

So far, the benefits are: FAST progress! I could see, at an event like the CNE, putting all my paint in the dehydrator overnight, to have fresh hard paint for the morning!

Update:
I loaded a bunch more paints into the dehydrator (Presto brand) since things seem to be working, and all seem to be at their original "brand new" hardness. I'm super impressed, and will continue to use this method when paints start getting squishy on me! Hope this was helpful for all!

This is AMAZING information!
I love this Forum!
Ooops!
I am using up my exclamation quotient for the day!

xoxo!!!!

so perhaps even the softness of new face paint cakes might be a humidity/moisture problem, either during manufacture or transportation?

I would say that's absolutely true. My next experiment is to put a brand new pearl split I got into the dehydrator, and see if it gets harder or not. Pearls will always be softer, but I don't think they need to be quite as soft as they are sometimes when we receive them! I know my TAG pearl unicorn was a mess almost immediately upon first use.

Just checking in for an update please

I am off to go buy a dehydrator - as soon as I can hand off the kids lol.

I am picking up a dehydrator today off of Craigslist to try and cure my goopy and unusable Wolfe white. This is a 90gr container that's about half-full. Is this going to fit in a dehydrator? I also wonder if anyone has some tips on temperature settings and times? Thanks!

I put my dehydrator on the lowest heat setting, and the highest fan setting. DF/X manufacturers have stated 180F is the maximum temperature for their paints, and so I will never go over that temperature. I used to repot my gloopy paints into small glass soufflé containers to dehydrate in my regular oven. Now, since I am not heating my paints above 85F I leave them in the original container. I then leave it overnight and the paint is firmed up the next day.
xoxo

Thank you Fesspenter!