Textile glue for masking

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There is some talk about how to use textile glue as a masking fluid. I have understood that there are tips about this in various Facebook groups and in other places. Some of my watercolor students have also mentioned it. Masking fluid is really just liquid latex, and textile glue is mostly the same thing: latex, just with a higher viscosity.

Any textile glue will work, as long as it is liquid latex, check that this is the case before using it on a painting. it is also possible to buy liquid latex intended for purposes other than gluing textiles, usually at a much lower price, but perhaps in unnecessarily large packages.

I have purchased a tube of Casco textile glue to evaluate how well it works and what to do with the glue. To begin with, the glue must be diluted, it is far too viscous to work with painting.

Use a small jar or bottle with a lid to dilute the glue in, then you have a container to store the mixture in.

If you dilute with an equal amount of water, you get a light-flowing solution that is thinner than ready-made masking fluid but still works, if you instead use one-third water and two-thirds glue, the solution will be just like the consistency of masking fluid. I like the more fluid texture. Then it works with all tools, brush, dipping pen, toothbrush, etc. so therefore I diluted my glue with an equal amount of water.

I don’t notice any difference between textile glue and masking fluid. They seem to work exactly the same, so from a practical point of view it’s the same thing.

An obvious disadvantage of fabric glue or liquid latex is its lack of color, since it is completely colorless (there are masking fluids that also are colorless) it is difficult to see where you have painted it on the paper. You can easily solve the problem by adding a little watercolor paint to the liquid. Choose a color that is not staining, you don’t want the masking to leave traces of color behind on the paper, for example an earth color.

As for the price, a tube of Casco textile glue costs about SEK 50 ($5) for 40 ml. Masking fluid costs about SEK 100 ($10) for double the amount. If you dilute the glue with half water, you get about the same amount of masking fluid for half the price.

Personally, I don’t use so much masking fluid that the price would be decisive in any way, one bottle lasts a very long time for me. In addition, I avoid the hassle of diluting the glue and adding a little color.

To everyone coming up with various other advantages of glue vs. masking fluid, I can only say that it’s the same thing: liquid latex, and therefore have the same properties.