Masterson Sta-Wet Handy Palette, 8.5in x 7in Airtight Stay Wet Palette, Keeps Wet Paint Fresh for Days, Acrylic Painting Palette with Lid, Seal, Perfect for Miniature Painting, Made in USA

I had to write a review like a few other people because some of these negative reviews are ridiculous. First off it's a nice square sealed plastic dish with a sponge and a few sheets of paper. You can't really mess that up or complain but some people apparently did. My sponge tore? Well what were you doing to it? It's a thin delicate sponge. Treat it nicely. You barely touch it anyway. It's too expensive? It's 12 dollars. If 12 dollars maybe twice in your life time is too much for you? Well maybe it's time to reevaluate your life choices and financial needs if 12 dollar's for a reusable item is too much for you lol. I get mold or mildew? Well it's called cleaning and the world we live in. Things grow in water. That's life. Clean it. Your not supposed to leave water standing for weeks and expect it to be clean. That's biology. Clean it or add some antibacterial stuff to it. The paper sucks? Buy a different kind when this 5 free sheets are used up. Seriously all of the complaints I've read minus the paper are ridiculous kids whining. Those types of people will never be happy with anything. Who takes the time to make a negative review on such mundane stuff? It's a Tupperware dish with a sponge. It's great and a great design for what it's meant for period. Could you make your own? Sure. Once you spend about 10 bucks on supplies you get a crappy looking knockoff and time wasted....but you stuck it to the man lol. Anyway long story short. If you are looking for a wet palette this thing is great and works great. The paper is meh but it's paper.....it's disposable after a few times. Buy a roll or Reynolds parchment and you will be set for years. Massive 3 dollar investment there so consult your financial advisor. Also please for the negative reviewers....please ventilate your working area more because it's affecting you obviously.

Even though the reviews were not all favorable for this product, I decided to give it a try as I needed a way to keep pains that I mixed on the fly while painting to still be usable when I needed that color again. Both Acrylics and watercolors, the two modalities I use the most, are pretty fast drying unless you are also mixing in a retardant and that does not always work too well given that many retardants can over thin the paint hen you need a relatively heavy paint or one that will stay put and with the texture you want rather then turning it into a flowing paint that thinks gravity is more important than the artists placement of the paint. And I think we have all had a time or two where we played with basic colors for some time to get the exact color and tone or shade we wanted for a project, and we forgot retardant, or did not use it as it altered the color we were wanting or forgot to note the mixing recipe and when we came back to the dried up color it was difficult if not impossible to recreate it. For that alone i have found this product a life and work savior. When using watercolors I have yet to have a color dry up on me as long as I keep the sponge wet and rewet it if its drying out. After several months of using it with a watercolor project, that took 6 weeks to complete I did not lose one bit of pain to it drying up. I am currently working in acrylics doing a project with several objects that will all need to share some accent colors, at least, so I decided to try this with the acrylics and see what transpired. I am now 4 weeks into the project and have not has one color that was original put on the pad or any mixed colors from those original dry out.. I have found, however, that for me the instructions on how to keep the sponge wet by directly adding water to the palette to let the sponge soak up more water does not work as well as lifting off the paper layer and washing the sponge in cool water and replacing it in the palette in the same manner as the instructions had you do to set it up. I found that directly adding water to the sponge in the tray, while it will eventually travel through the entire sponge you can end up with areas near where you added the water wetter and a bit thinned while others, farther from the water addition not getting too wet or thinning out. Since the paper can be easily lifted out for cleaning it can also be lifted out for a short time so you can wash and rewet the sponge in a way that the water is the same amount across the sponge. then replacing the sponge and paper. I have seen where people have complained about growing some mold although I have not seen any. This could be because I do remove the sponge from the tray and rinse it well and then make sure its consistently wet and replace it, and I take this opportunity to also rinse the tray. I also use distilled water to rinse and wet the sponge and I microwave the paper as suggested in the instructions for hot enough water for the paper to be moistened with. Both of these will pretty much eliminate the chance that you have introduced mold into the system which will enjoy the wet surfaces. I live in an area that is consistently damp and mold is a real issue but have not had it be a problem with this palette. And given how the system works if you do find that mold crops up after a few days, there is no reason why you cannot set aside the paper, wash the sponge and the tray every few days and replace the paper without losing any paints on the paper. Tap water as well as just the air can carry mold spores and distilled water is definitely a deterrent, as it would be unlikely that there would be spores in distilled water and even if some get into the palette from the air or anything that touches the palette (fingers, tools, brushes etc) distilled water is not going to provide mold with much to thrive on. I have noticed many making suggestions of things to treat the palette with, such as Lysol and Vinegar but, unless your project calls for paints that have been altered in color or consistency by adding chemicals or altering the pH of the paint I would not suggest that as a solution. If you are going to be adding anything other than water I would not be looking at household cleaning products or vinegars or anything that will alter the pH balance. The only issue I have had, and its when using acrylics, is that if you are starting a fairly large product and star out with large amount of a color or mix a color in a large amount so your not faced with reinventing that color each time you run out, I found, at first, that I was dealing some paints drying enough to get a 'skin' across the surface. This is a common step that acrylics do as they dry so when a skin forms you know they are drying out which also can change the color. I found that using a palette wetting spray immediately after putting my colors on the palette, and using it again if I take the sponge out and clean and rewet it, or if I add some new colors to the those on the palette. The most palette wetting sprays, just from their chemistry, will retard mold development without disturbing the paint's pH level or altering the paint in any way, although it may result in thinning the paint if you overuse the spray. All in all, this palette does what it says it does and keeps paints, at least watercolors and acrylics, from drying out before they are used up and gives you the leisure of being able to mix and achieve a special color without worrying that if it dries out you may not achieve the same hue, tone or shade as you had with the first mix. Given that I am now into my 3rd month using the palette with acrylics and they are all still wet and usable, it does what it says it will do. I can't explain way some have posted about having issues where their paint drying out quickly. This could well be user error, either in not following the exact steps for setting the palette up the first time so that the moisture transfers well from sponge to paper. Just not creating an initial temperature gradient across from a cool sponge to paper that is initially treated with hot to boiling water. The paper does nt have to always be hot, but when adding a new sheet or after cleaning a paper, using hot water again would be important to the system. The other problems, such as mold, are again most likely user error - not using hot enough water on the paper originally so spores would be killed, and not doing upkeep such as cleaning the sponge and tray on a regular basis depending on how high the mold index is where you are living or painting. I have a friend that uses this brand of palette also, but lives in a very hot area with little humidity and a very low mold index who has never had a problem with it, even though she rarely cleans the system except between projects or if she is using it during their few weeks a year when they get monsoons and mold flourishes every where, in which case during those few weeks she rinses and rewets the sponge an cleans the bottom tray every 1-2 days. As for paints that seem to start to dry and develop a skin, as I mentioned, you can use a palette spray or else spread out the pants you have placed so that a larger part of them are in contact with the damp paper. Also make sure that the paint you are using is a water based, water soluble paint. Certainly that favors acrylics and watercolors. While oil paints that are water based seem like they would work well with this palette, the reviews are a bit mixed, although many that are using water based oils are usually also emptying traditionally oils in the composition too and putting a tradition oil paint on a palette that is using water to keep the paint usable is going to create a bit of a mess as the oil and water do not mix well or at all on a water wet palette. So if using oils, and using both oil and water based oil paints, it would be better to stick to a traditional dry palette. Of course with oil based paints you have a good log drying time, nothing as short as acrylics or water colors so there would not be a real reason for a palette that stays water wet all the time. However, if you are using ONLY water based oils, which tend to dry very quickly when compared to oil based paints, and is one of the attractive features of water based oils, this palette does seem to really extend the drying time factor of water based oils, however water based oils seem to end up getting thinned a bit more with them in constant contact with a wet paper then acrylics and watercolors do. This is definitely a product I recommend to other artists and to my students, if for no other reason than it certainly saves money on paint and for students that are just getting the hang of mixing paint and color management, requiring them to have this palette as one of the tools for the class has ended the frustration for them of finally getting the right mix for the hue or tone or shade they need, at one class, and coming back a day or two later and finding it all dry and unusable and they are faced with having to remix and recreate their color. One tip that a student came up with and I have started to employ , is that if you have a range of color on a palette and don't want to clean the paper or use a new paper because there is not room on the current one to even add any more paint, let alone mix anything, the student found that he could buy a flat sponge that was close to the size of his Sty-wet paper, get it wet and slide it into a ziplock bag taht can close air tight and then place his palette paper on the sponge with another piece of palette paper, also moist, on top and seal the bag while making sure he removes as much air as possible and then stored the bag flat on a shelf.. He did that, to see if he could preserve a palette paper and after 6 months he opened it back up to find the paints and his mixed paints totally usable.

I'm new to acrylic painting. It's extremely dry right now in winter in Wisconsin, and my paints dry almost instantly on a palette. I was starting to get used to throwing out all the paint on my palette every time I put down my brush. Saw this product and thought I'd give it a shot. Wow, it really works! If anything, too well... my thick, heavy body paints are becoming a bit wetter than I'd like as they sit on this palette. Even a very thin film of paint on the wet palette paper will not dry, even in very low humidity! Not sure about months yet but it lets me use the same blobs of paint for days in a row. No more wasting tons of paint or squeezing out tiny bits of paint at a time. Couple tips: 1. The sponge looks like it's too long for the palette but it's not once you wet it. Don't trim it. I made this mistake. The instructions say this but I read it too late. Not a big deal but now my sponge is a bit too short for the palette. 2. Don't put down HUGE (tbsp+) blobs of paint unless you are using them right away. The paint will spread into a broad puddle over a period of a few days, and/or start to dry and skin over at the top. 3. Don't leave tiny sharp peaks in your blobs of paint, because the tips of these can start to dry, skin over, and make little paint boogers. The moisture comes from underneath. 4. Don't tip it! Your paint will slide around on the wet paper. Keep it on a level surface at all times. It's not particularly portable. Big fan. Hey Masterson, give me free stuff.

I recently got into painting Warhammer minis and having a wet palette was recommended. It really welps with watering down paints to make them smooth to paint with. I tried doing it the old fashioned way on a hard palette but ended up wasting a lot of paint. This palette makes it easier and more paint efficient. I will say that I was using it for minis, so the paper sheet that came with the palette was a little too thick and I ended up using kitchen parchment paper instead but the sponger is great, the container is sturdy and convenient and it's big enough to do plenty of mixing and mid tones while being a convenient enough size to stow away or use in a cramped workspace like mine.

I primarily paint with gouache, and this palette has made my life much easier. I've noticed lots of reviews talking about how long you can store your paint with this palette, but that is not what I need or use this palette for. First and foremost this palette is designed to keep your paints wet while you are painting, and to that extend it works fabulously. It also keeps my gouache active even over a few days while I'm working on a project, but long term storage really isn't what this palette is about, nor is it what I need. If you simply need a palette that will keep your paints from drying while you are actively painting, this product works great. If I need my paint to last overnight for a day or two I slip it back into the ziplock bag that it came in to increase the airtightness. I used to make my own stay wet palettes, but this has made my life much easier. If you want long term storage, while I think this palette can handle that for awhile, I don't think this is the product you should be considering for that, and honestly, you might need to change your workflow if that's a particular problem for you.

First, I use this to paint miniatures with not for canvas painting. I followed the directions and it would still dry the paints out too quickly (No different than using a dry palette). Soak the paper in boiling water for 5-10 minutes and have the sponge with about half the capacity of water. I did some research and if you paint miniatures and would like to use this, remove the "paper" that this comes with and replace it with Parchment paper that is used for cooking. This is a nonstick surface and really keeps the paints wet for a really long time. Be careful as moving the palette using the parchment paper will cause your paints to run around. To prep the parchment paper, cut to size (slightly smaller than the inside of the palette box) and hold down the paper. It will curl on you, but once it's wet it should stay flat. Wax paper can be used also as it accomplishes the same thing, but it will start to flake and leave wax in your paint. For those that are unfamiliar with this, miniature paint is about the consistency of a thick water color. If you use the paint from the tubes and don't thin it down for canvas painting, ignore all of the above stuff. Now, the -1 star. I subtracted 1 star because it states it has an "Airtight Lid", mine's not airtight. It's really close, but if you squeeze the middle of the lid while it's on the palette, you'll find that you can push it down. That shows that the lid is letting air out, it then comes back to it's original form, which shows that it's letting air back into the palette. If they would have left that description off, I'd have given it 5 stars with knowing that it may leak. (Paragraph is left up for reference, see below) I haven't messed with trying to make it air tight yet, it will probably involve either silicon or hot glue though. (Also left for reference) Update: Make sure you use Purified water/Distilled water and an antibacterial/antifungal like the 3% diluted hydrogen peroxide that they suggest in the instructions. I used the above the first time (with the paper it comes with) and I trial-errored it for about 2 weeks, there was no mold/mildew. When I switched to the cooking parchment paper, I failed to use distilled water and the 3% diluted hydrogen peroxide spray on it and after about 7 days, the paper and paint were still wet but some of the paint was growing a nice culture and under the sponge was icky. SOOO, I rewashed everything, sprayed it down with the 3% HP mix and remade my pallet. Also, after having it for about a month and with all of the different testing, I can honestly say that it really doesn't matter that it's not an "air tight" seal. It locks enough moisture to not dry the paints out and to grow mold/mildew. So I bumped it up to 5 stars. Great product!

This palette keeps the acrylic paint from drying out for several days. I have also used it for watercolor gouache. Gouache drys out quickly and this keeps it wet so I do not need to spray it to keep wet.

Easy to use, keeps paint wet for around three days. Easy to clean and use. Very happy. Great for a beginner painter.