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So my girlfriend asked me a question a while back and it threw me because in almost 15 year of painting i'd never thought about it.

How long do paints stay shaken for?

I shake mine well (I assume). 30 or 40 seconds at least. How long before they need to be re-shaken? 10 minutes, half hour, an hour?
I also tend to give mine an extra few shakes before I open them if they've been sitting for [indeterminate amount of time] so I haven't really got a baseline idea for when they start to separate again.

Anyone have any insight into this? Do different methods of mixing your paint affect time needed before re-shaking? Like is rolling you paints better then shaking (because I roll my Vallejo paints)? Would a vibrating plate well for a good mix? What about adding an agitating bead to the pot?

It depends on the paint in question. There is no answer that will cover all paints.

I only shake paints that are in a dropper container, GW kind aren’t necessary, actually bad to shake, as paint dries it crumbs and mix in with the good paint, when you paint you’ll sometimes see a sandy texture; only one to shake is lahmian medium when I do decals; I apply some water and paint thinner on my pots to keep them from drying out.

Not necessary? My Citadel paints separate every time between painting sessions. Especially metallics and Ceramite White. The only paints I don't shake are the texture paints, because that would be kind of pointless.

I usually only shake mine for like 5 seconds or something like that, then I open them. It's pretty obvious if they are not shaken enough, and if needed, I just shake them some more.

I shake them as much as they need, but I have them in droppers and have agitators in there - so until the agitator can move freely.

Vallejo actually recommend rolling instead of shaking, but bugger that

Ghaz wrote:It depends on the paint in question. There is no answer that will cover all paints.

Do you mean from various paint ranges or just different colours? Because while I don't use either extensively I have found that yellow and white needs a better shake then others. But that's not really surprising.

Big Mac wrote:GW kind aren’t necessary, actually bad to shake, as paint dries it crumbs and mix in with the good paint, when you paint you’ll sometimes see a sandy texture

My solution to that problem is to just carefully scrape off the dried paint with a metal sculpting tool. Any bits that fall into the paint itself can be retrieved with a pair of fine tweezers. Never seen it as reason not to shake the pot.

I apply some water and paint thinner on my pots to keep them from drying out.

Many times i've heard that this is something you shouldn't do in case you thin it down to much. If you do then there's no way to thicken it again and you've busted a whole pot of paint. But as someone who has done it, what have you found the results to be like?

Mr_Erk wrote:Especially metallics and Ceramite White.

Love ceramite white. It separates like a bastard, but it's a great paint. Definitely agree that metallics are another that need a good hard regular shake.

kb_lock wrote:I shake them as much as they need, but I have them in droppers and have agitators in there - so until the agitator can move freely.

Vallejo actually recommend rolling instead of shaking, but bugger that

What do you use for agitators? I've been rolling my Vallejo pots and I don't know whether I can tell a difference between rolling them and shaking them. Rolling them supposedly introduces less air and what not though.

I use stainless steel ball bearings. I've found that they do improve most paints,including Army painter! I also have a battery powered paint mixer,which does mix really well also.

I shake before painting with out fail, back in the 90’s dark angels green was the worst for separating (not sure now though) you always got a yellowish streak that was quite visible