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I live in a hard water area. Not as hard as Oxfordshire (that stuff is so hard it could probably block radioactivity from a nuke!) but still hard.
I used to live in lush green Ireland with water from a spring (contaminated with heavy metals from a nearby landfill but that's another story!) and painting was fine. However I noticed that in the UK my paints would dry quicker and not be as 'fluid'.

Then I thought I'd test out some 'flow improver' specifically a winsor and newton one. It was a bit pricey (£5.99) but seems to work like a detergant/dispersant and I put a couple of drops in a 500ml bottle of water and then use that water to paint with. I *think* the paint flow is better although foundation paints still tend to dry quickly.

I've since bought a bottle of 'slow drying medium' AND BOY IS IT SLOW!

I was just wondering what additives other Dakka-ites use and have used and if there are any they can recommend?

Does flow improver help with hard water or am I just imagining it all?

My next objective is matte medium so that I can try and make some of Les B's washes (the awesomepaintjob.com dude)

I would rather improve my water supply than continually invest in a consumable product.

You could fit a Reverse Osmosis water filter to most tap/plumbing systems quite easily. Filters nearly everything out and it tastes AMAZING. Seriously, the first time I had a glass of RO water I couldn't believe it, it's like nothing else.

It's a quite expensive outlay at around the £150 mark, but it's a one time investment as the replaceable filters are pretty cheap.

Flow improver does exactly what it says it does. Im not sure that the hardness of water has any effect on the drying time. Its more likely that the temperature or relative humidity is different where our living now. Wiith that said though, Flow Aid is amazing stuff.

But £6 for 250 mls which will last a LONG time is probably better than the machine. I could always get the water from work's labs anyway.

That said I'm finding the retarder / slow drying medium quite good and have just blended some stuff.

I would only get flow improver if i paint at places like games workshop, which i do but dont have flow improver lol.

Phototoxin wrote:But £6 for 250 mls which will last a LONG time is probably better than the machine. I could always get the water from work's labs anyway.

That said I'm finding the retarder / slow drying medium quite good and have just blended some stuff.

A small bottle of the stuff should last you forever, you mix it 10 parts water to 1 part Flow agent and use it like that. The only problem I ever have with it is when I painting a few models at a time the first model wont be dry by the time I ready to add the next part to it.

well this is it, I don't know if I'm using it as per 'flow improver' more of a 'water thinner' so to speak.

I expect to use a higher concentration for when I'm making up some washes.

If the consentration you use is to high your paint or wash will never actually dry.... Flow Aid isnt one of those things where more is better.

I use the W&N flow improver when airbrushing. It cut clogging and tip dry massively with both citadel and vallejo acrylics.

Hmm... I've only ever used plain old tap water for thinning. I may just have to try and pick up some new stuff to experiment with, next time I'm at the craft store. Only additive I've used is matte medium when I wanted a thick but translucent glaze - helped keep the paint as paint (instead of tinted water) while still allowing me to drop the opacity by a significant amount.