Cleaning p2 pad...Arrggh

Okay I'm fairly new to face painting and I bought a P2 pad from Silly face to practice on. Well I did not realize how hard paradise black would be to get off the pad (wolfe I know you shouldnt use). Now I have this ghosted black practice strokes on my practice pad and cant get it off. I have tried the following:
Scrubbing really hard with warm soap and water, spray & wash, alchol, fantastick oxyclean.

Any other suggestions?? I have heard that the mr clean magic earaser works but they I also saw where it didnt on black. I dont want to ruin my new pad but at the same time I dont really want to live with the practice strokes ghosted on it either.... help!!

G

Try Vegetable oil.

Let us know if you find something. I have both a proface and pad that are stained with faint blacks and greens. But don't dismay, it really doesn't diminsh its practice value.

I found on another site that you can use "Simple Green", its a cleaner found in the auto section. After you use simple green, you have to make sure you rinse it really well. I havent tried it yet, but they say it works.

Oh do any of you have suggestions for sanitizing sponges. I did some face painting at small birthday party and one little girl had a cold and OF course she wanted to be face painted. I would feel weird about refusing as Im sure it could have been allergies. I didnt reuse the brush I washed the brush in really hot water and soap and I just threw away the sponge I used on her. I was glad I brought some of my cheap throw aways but I don't always bring them. I would have hated to throw way one of my "good" sponges.

Put the sponges in a washing bag and in then in the washing machine. You could do without the bag, but it is easier the other way. Remember not to wash anything else with them.

Hot, soapy water, is the best way to clean sponges and brushes. For extra clean you could use alcohol. I use Mona Lisa Pink Soap. I have a plastic coffee can I add hot water and the soap and put my sponges in it, while I am at fairs and festivals. Then when I get home I wash and rinse them really well, and let them air dry. You could throw them in the wash, but I find my washer seems to tear my sponges up, so I just do it by hand.

Here is a place that you can find pads, and practice heads for a lot cheaper.

http://salon.wimexbeauty.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=7508

Wimex has great practic faces and pads...flat pads and pads with different shaped eyes, and pads with different shaped lips. practice heads with face masks....Oh, it's wonderful.
And while you're there look at their mirrors. They have great stuff.

Jenny

Wow that is a lot cheaper thanks Jenny!!

No luck with the simple green stuff either argggh what a pain in the batootiee!!.

The oils seem to work the best. I tried everything in my kitchen and bathroom but had no luck until I used various oils. Some work better than others. Spread the oil on with your fingers and then rub off with a cotton ball or a cosmetic wedge. When I got started face painting, I bought a large bag of the cosmetic wedges and then found out I couldn't use them for face painting. They work great for cleaning my practice head though. You don't even have to rub that hard.

Let us know how you come out.

Hey Cassandra I tried the oil last week with not much result then i decided to do it again this time i left plain ole Canola oil on the P2 pad for about 10 minutes then I used a cotton make up remover pad and scrubbed on one area and it came up pretty well. The purple hasnt come up but the black did so I think the key is to let it soak in a little while then try to remove it.

So far, sesame body oil and emu oil have worked the best for me. The emu oil takes off everything with no effort. I had some of it laying around that I ordered on a whim last winter. The emu is a creamier consistency than the sesame and maybe that creamy consistency makes the difference. Experiment with various oils you have around the house.

LOL Emu oil yeah sorry i don't really have that one lying around the house but I will have to get some. I think I do have sesame oil.
Thanks for the tips!!

I just cleaned a P2 head today with 90% alcohol and a mr. clean eraser(recommended on their website). When my mr. clean eraser disintegrated I used a regular old yellow rubber pencil "push on the end type" eraser. It really got into the little crevices under they eye, neck, ears really well - woo hoo!!

Yeah thats exactly what it did for me too. I don't know who wrote that originally but apparnetly not all Mr. Cleans are made equal.

I had problems with staining on my maniquin and skin pad too. I use Lacquer thinner after trying everything else, and it really works..

Will that come off of the pad or mani? I just hope it wouldn't somehow transfer to the paints and then the kids eyes.

If using this method, I would be sure to ONLY use a practice kit and not one that you use on jobs!

I have the pad and proface and would like it clean. So I will try this, but make a practice ONLY set of paints.

Thanks for the suggestion Renee!

Welcome, I only use this on my manniquins and skin pads..I wash it with soap, rinse, remove stains with the lacguer thinner than repeat the first step. I used my cheap paints that I started off with, but it's not the same. I wash my brushes/sponges with soap and water. I like to soak my brushes in 70% Alcohol. I did Saint Patrick's day at the Hospital that I work at, and soaked between patients..I threw my sponges...I'm learning ...so if you have any helful hints for me, I'm open to it..

You will hear all kinds on here, but I think common sense practice is the best.

I wash my sponges in the washing machine in a lengerie bag. I can't imagine what alcohol does to brushes. I use mostly sable and wouldn't risk it. I give them a good back and forth on the old soap bar till no paint is visible. Conditions as well as cleans.

Thank you, I'll try washing my sponges in the washing machine. I've been tossing out my sponges..It's get to be spendy..

I wash my sponges one by one with a bar of Ivory soap. I rinse/wet the sponges, rub each one individualy on the Ivory bar soap, rub the sponge between my fingers until no more paint comes out. Then I rinse the sponges. This done, add a bit of ALL unscented detergent to a large bowl of water and hand squeeze the whole bunch of sponges in the soapy sudsy water for a minute or two. For some reason, the second washing releases the last of the paints and the sponges rinse out squeaky clean. If you're looking for easy, this really isn't it, but the sponges are really clean.

I started the second detergent wash accidentally, when I dropped my cleaned sponges into a bowl of detergent water, and as I started to squeeze them with water running over them to rinse out the soap, I noticed that the water was murky with painty water....more squeezing and more painty water....then after a good rinse....They were clean, really clean. So now I do the two step hand wash method every time.

Jenny

I just tried Garnier CleanSensitive 2 in 1 waterproof makeup remover and it cleaned my pad up a treat. I also used a dry facewasher/flannel.

They're practice pads & heads... it's ok for them to be stained
I've named my head Sally Stains!

I just ordered a practice pad from Metina - I`m hoping to keep it clean!! I read somewhere (I thought it was on this board but not sure), that if you spray it first with hairspray, the paint will wash off without staining. I don`t know if that really works, but I`m going to try it!