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

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.

ABSOLUTE BEST!! My first wet pallet was homemade using parchment paper and it worked fairly well. Second was a Nicpro and it is utterly useless; the hydro sheets began to dry and curl up almost immediately. It is horrible. I reluctantly tried this Masterson and it is FANTASTIC. The first thing I noticed is that the Masterson hydro sheets are markedly thicker than the Nicpro, which immediately led me to think that they would perform better and they absolutely did. I soaked the hydro sheet in warm water for 15 minutes, as per the instructions. Followed the instructions for the sponge as well. Hydro sheet laid perfectly flat and remained that way and the amount of moisture provided from the sponge is perfect. I am beyond impressed with this Masterson Wet Pallet. I purchased the 8.5x7 and that is plenty of space for painting miniatures. You might want the larger size if you’re working on canvas and creating larger works of art. This is the wet pallet you should buy no matter what your style of painting may be.

100% Worth every penny, worked outside in the sun with this pallet and paint was moist the whole day, paint also stayed overnight to use the next day. Really happy with this product and would recommend to anyone looking to extend the life of their paint on pallet.

Is awesome to have a stay wet pallet in your desk always, if you love painting. But you have to soak this sheet of this palette for 15 minutes before using it. You can wipe it with a damp towel if you want to use more space to be able to mix other paint colors. The sheet still stained when you cleaned up, and even though it does this, the stains of the other paints are not reactivated, this is a positive one, but it gives the impression that the sheet can be degraded with the time by rubbing to mix and clean it. Also, you have to moisten the sponge and the sheets of this palette well, because the sheet lift up quickly when they are not well moistened, and it's annoying! Well, I'm going to keep testing to see how long each sheet of palette paper lasts. I guess you can experiment a little for more enjoyable experience....

This is a very good palette with a generous number of wells. The wells hold a good amount of paint, too. The lid is not perfect but is better than no lid.

Works as designed. Just a beginner so it seems to be good.

Glam palette

Good quality