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I just saw a pic of someone's palette (kinky)... it had hella paint on it. So do you not have to clean them after use? I've been scrubbing mine after each session.

Im the same - I scrub after each use. If you dont clean it, you run the risk of getting old paint flakes in your current colour. It still gets stained, and I think in a few months I shall need another.

However, if you check out this Blog - http://thepaintingcorps.blogspot.com/2009/04/friday-quick-tip-easy-clean-up.html

Its got a neat alternative!

Depends what I am doing. Plastic palettes are so cheap, I have a stack of them ready to go. During an intense session I might use two or three, which get dry and crusty. I just soak them in acetone free nail polish remover to clean them.

Kilkrazy wrote:Depends what I am doing. Plastic palettes are so cheap, I have a stack of them ready to go. During an intense session I might use two or three, which get dry and crusty. I just soak them in acetone free nail polish remover to clean them.

What do you do with the used nail polish remover? Is it okay to dump in the sink? on plants? in the toilet?

I usually don't wash mine ( the palette you filthy people!) but I use an old cup and saucer plate or an upside down oven hot plate cove so there is heaps of surface area to cover before i need to replace it, as i paint I kinda mix my colours on the edge of the dried ones of the same shade so i know when i'm mixing it's the same as what i painted before and my models will be cohesive.

Cling film/Saran Wrap tight over the palette. when you are done just peel this away.

But as @nerdfest09 said. Its sometimes useful if you are colour mixing to leave some of the old colour on a palette to give you a guide.

I use a DIY wet palette, so I can just throw it away after each session. It´s only paper towels and a piece of parchment paper after all.

I put tinfoil over mine (stolen idea from vallejo) I often paint in fits and starts through the day so the paint often got dried on and was a mission to clean off. I use a wet palette too and then just throw away the baking paper afterwards.

I use a sponge wrapped with kitchen towel and parchment paper as a wet palette, which I replace every couple of days.

I chop the bottom inch or so off soda bottles and use them as makeshift palettes if I'm mixing up larger batches of paints. The ones in the UK tend to have 6 or so impressions that work rather well.

I claim no credit for this trick, I saw it in one of the miniature mentor videos and thought it was a good idea.

Jam jar lids. And no, i don't clean them. I have about 6/7 and i just bin them after a while

I have a cheap plastic one that I clean occasionally. Elmer's glue poured on top and left to dry will lift the acrylic paint right now. I've gone weeks without cleaning it, and I never have problems with paint flakes in my current paint for some reason. *shrug*

I've found that while cheap craft paints soften and flake when new paint is mixed on top of them, mini paints like Citadel or Vallejo don't seem to have the same issue. Contamination isn't a worry, for me, as I use a yogurt container lid for craft paints that simply wipes clean with a damp paper towel.

For my mini paints, I use either a small DIY wet palette (just change the paper) or a small plastic palette, on which I simply let the paint accumulate, as it's mostly used for paints I don't want to thin, like those destined for drybrushing, which I only occasionally have call to use. I have a set of those cheap, deep-welled plastic palettes as well, which I only use if I need to mix up a large, thin batch of something (a wash of paint or pigment, usually). When that happens, I line the well with tin foil, then toss it when I'm done. Takes all of a minute (including the walk to the kitchen to grab a square of foil) and guarantees I can A) see the actual color of my wash, without underlying layers showing through and B) use the same few dollars' worth of palettea for the rest of my life.

I use transparent plastic gubbins like food lids or whatever, over something white. Then they're stuck in the recycling or put in the bin depending on what's closer.

I'm typically pretty bad when it comes to maintaining my palette. I let the paint cake up and maybe every couple of months I scrape it all off with an exacto knife. I rarely get flakes mixed in during my painting sessions, so I guess I'm somewhat lucky

I use a porcelain flower palette. Run hot water on it and the paint lifts right off. Ive also used CD-ROM slim cases as palettes. Each side acts as one palette and can by a box of 50 for a few bucks at staples so your always well stocked.

For the plastic circle palettes i find spraying it with Simple green then using a plastic scrub brush gets the paint off easily.

I have several palettes, and since I'm kinda lazy, I just let the paint build up in them until it gets ridiculous enough that I just have to clean them, which is when I let them soak for a while in Simple Green.

And one of my dirty little secrets: while my palettes are soaking and I have nowhere else to put paint, I usually just turn yet-to-be-used bases over and put my paint in there.