PYM II Fixative



Flower Pendant by Carissa Nichol

PYM II is a product that is being adapted for use with polymer clay. It started its life as a product to coat bullets to give its inventor an edge when target shooting, by making the bullets glide through the barrel with less drag. He discovered that it worked great as a fixative for inkjet photo prints, making them more permanent and impervious to water. We (and others, like Valerie Aharoni) have been experimenting with PYM and polymer. We have an abhorrence of varnish and other coatings on polymer.....we would rather sand and buff to get a beautiful shiny finish. However, there is often a need to seal gold leaf, silk screened paint, alcohol inks and perfect pearl powders. Our good friend and ace heart maker, Ron LeHocky, has discovered the nice semi-matte finish left by PYM II. While at a retreat in Ohio, we introduced Carissa Nichols to the finger pump spray to use on her wonderful flower pendants. She needed a way to seal mica powders to the surfaces of her ultralight polymer creations. I think she is hooked! We also showed Lynda Gilcher that it would help keep her white ultralight flowers white, and it would seal the ink on her colored versions. She is using it on her wonderful new floral pieces quite successfully.We have chosen to sell the finger pump, non-aerosol version, although it is available in an aerosol can. Either one needs to be used outside....it stinks(Donna, our friend from PYM II likens it to the smell in natural gas - the odor keeps you from being tempted to use it inside)....but it works like a champ. We have tried using it on Japanese papers to combine with brass filigree for interesting beads, with good success.

Lynda Gilcher's White Necklace

Earrings by Lynda Gilcher