Anyone new to diamond painting has excitedly opened up their first kit, only to be a little bit confused by some of the items included. One of the most asked about items is the little square of pink or blue squishy stuff that is usually included. What in the world is it and what is it for? You are in the right spot, because I’m going to answer all of your most burning questions about the “pink stuff” in your diamond painting.
The pink square (or sometimes heart-shaped piece) that comes with a diamond painting kit is actually a type of wax. This wax is used in the tip of the diamond painting pen, to help pick up the small diamonds so that they can be accurately placed on the painting without being dropped.
How Do You Use Diamond Painting Wax?
Most diamond painting kits will come with a pen, some wax, the canvas itself, and the small plastic drills (diamonds). The diamond painting pen is dipped into the wax so that the wax fills the pen tip. Once the pen is loaded up with wax, it can pick up the small plastic diamonds. The wax in the tip of the pen helps the diamonds stick to the pen just long enough to get them onto the canvas in the spot where they should go.
Good diamond painting wax will be sticky enough to help pick up the diamonds, but not so sticky that they don’t release onto the painting when you are ready to stick them down on the canvas.
What is the wax in diamond painting made from?
The commercially available “pink wax” is a proprietary blend that so far no diamond painting company has been willing to share. It is not known whether it’s toxic, and there is no smell to it, but diamond painting companies recommend not putting it near your eyes or mouth and keeping it away from babies.
Because the exact ingredients are unknown, (some Amazon listings even call it “glue clay”) some diamond painters choose to create their own wax or use a homemade blend purchased from etsy so they have more control over the wax they are using. There are different varieties of waxes, even with commercially produced diamond painting kits. Some kits will come with a small tin with blue wax, but most of the kits available on Amazon will have small squares of pink wax.
Common Types of Diamond Painting Wax
Not all wax is created equal when it comes to diamond painting. There are two main types of wax that come in diamond painting kits, and there are many homemade recipes that can be used as well.
Pink Wax
The pink wax that comes by default in many kits is usable, but it doesn’t work really well. The pink wax tends to pop back out of the pen. Sometimes the whole blob of pink wax will fall straight out of the pen while placing diamonds. Other times, the wax squishes out sideways while placing diamonds and it has to be manually pressed back into the pen tip.
Pink wax also doesn’t stay sticky for very long. This is actually what causes some of the problems mentioned above – once the wax loses its stickiness, it starts to fall out of the pen, it causes you to drop the drills you are picking up, or it just won’t pick up any drills altogether. This type of wax is also notorious for leaving little pink sticky balls all over your diamond painting as small bits squish out of the pen and land on the canvas. If you are using the pink wax that comes with your diamond painting kit, just be prepared to refill your pen with wax fairly often, and to keep an eye out for small pink blobs that have settled into your painting where they shouldn’t.
Blue Wax
The blue wax is very similar to the pink wax, and it usually comes in a small square or a circle pattern. It’s a little more firm than the pink variety, but it’s loaded into the pen and used the same way that the pink wax is. It seems to last a little bit longer in the pen than the pink wax does, just because it’s a bit more firm. Blue wax is a step up from pink wax, but it’s still not the best option.
Because the waxes that come with the kit basically stink, many crafters and small businesses have created their own formula for a diamond painting wax. Keep reading to the bottom of this post to see a large list of small businesses that have created a better alternative to the blue or pink wax that comes with your diamond painting kit.
Does Diamond Painting Wax Dry Out?
Diamond painting wax can dry out! It’s important to keep the wax covered to prevent dust or hair from sticking to it, as this will decrease the stickiness of the wax. To keep it from drying out, it’s best to keep wax in a closed airtight bag, or a container with an airtight lid.
When you purchase a diamond painting kit, it will usually come with a little square of pink wax, or a little pot of blue colored wax. The little pink squares of wax will have a small plastic sheet on both sides to keep it clean and free of dust, but this isn’t quite enough. Make sure to store your wax so that air and dust can’t ruin it.
It’s also a great idea to make sure your hands are clean when you are messing with the wax. Try to avoid touching the wax too much when loading wax into your pen so the oils from your fingers don’t get all over the wax.
How Do You Clean Wax Out of the Diamond Painting Pen?
The easiest way to get wax out of your diamond painting pen is to use a toothpick and gently dig it out. If you are using a firm wax, you can also pull it out with tweezers.
Sometimes, the wax gets really jammed in there and it can get stuck. If this is the case, running your pen under really hot water for a few minutes can loosen up the wax and make it easier to scoop out with a toothpick.
What Can You Use Instead of Diamond Painting Wax?
Sometimes you need a really quick alternative to diamond painting wax in a pinch. Maybe you didn’t get wax, your wax has dried out, or you are in the middle of a diamond painting and all of a sudden realize that you’ve run out of wax. There are quite a few options that can be used instead, from poster tack to glue dots to homemade wax alternatives, which I’ve detailed below. I also have a detailed post over here with homemade diamond painting wax alternatives if you prefer not to purchase something or you need a solution very quickly.
Diamond Painting Wax Alternatives
If you don’t want to use the pink or blue wax that came with your diamond painting kit, there are alternatives. You can purchase tons of different homemade blends on Etsy, or you can even make your own. There are waxes and putty versions that can be used to pick up diamonds, and there are several really good options.
Glue Dots
One thing that a lot of people like to use instead of wax at all is Glue Dots. You can fit about three dots into an average sized diamond painting pen at once, and it will last a really long time. There is a technique to getting the glue dots into the pen though, you have to kind of scoop and roll each glue dot down into the pen.
It is important to note that once you load the Glue Dots into your pen, you’ll need to dab the pen onto a shirt or another piece of fabric to take away a little bit of the stickiness. If you don’t do this first, the Glue Dots will be so sticky that they won’t release the diamonds onto the painting.
One benefit of using Glue Dots is that they are great to use with AB diamonds. Glue Dots put the drills down without sticking to them, and it doesn’t pull the finish off of the drills, which is a common complaint with waxes and putties.
In the video below, Lisa does a great job of showing the technique to load the glue dots into the pen.
Wax and Putty from Etsy
Melanie B’s Sassy Wax – unscented
Melanie B’s Diva Dough – Coconut scented
Paddy Wax/Paddy Wax Super Sticky
BluTack
Here’s a video comparing some of the most popular waxes. This one is great comparison because she actually shows a time-lapse of how long each wax or putty lasted before it lost it’s stickiness.
Spoiler alert: if you can’t watch the video, the BluTack linked above outlasted all of the other options by several hours. If you prefer to shop small business or to have a lovely scent, there are several great options linked above as well.