What is Wood Tung Oil?

Tung oil, also known as China wood oil, has been traditionally used for at least 2500 years in wood finishing and wood waterproofing.

Instead of using lacquer or chemical base varnish for your wood, tung oil provides protection the natural way.

In olden days, this oil was used by boat builders to make their boats waterproof.

If you are working with wood craft, it is important to understand more about this oil.

How to use Tung Oil?

Start by applying tung oil using a soft cloth or brush and then thoroughly wipe it off. Check after 1 or 2 hours to see if any extra oil has beaded on the wood surface and wipe it off too.

When to use Tung Oil?

Tung oil is often used for aesthetic appeal. Use tung oil when you are looking to give your wood work a warm colour and a slightly golden darkened colour.

Benefits of Tung Oil

There are plenty of benefits for using tung oil. The list below only applies to pure 100% tung oil:

•       Waterproof or at the very least, it is highly water resistant
•       Can be used to harden softer wood such as wood from palm tree or coconut tree
•       Natural varnish and wood darkener
•       Flexible and protects wood that expands and contract
•       Easy to apply and very forgiving during application
•       Easy to re-apply when the original finish becomes damaged or worn
•       Resistant to alcohol and acetone

Email us if you have any enquiries at enquiry@craftiviti.com or pop by Craftiviti Craft Store at 10 Boulevard, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

If you found this post useful, please join us on Craftiviti Facebook or Instagram for more updates and demos!

Crafting with Epoxy Resin

We have received may enquiries about resin so we’ve done up this post. Hope this helps.

Resins are fascinating materials so we are glad you asked. They can be used to cast figurines or objects, as a coating for craft pieces, to encase images or items such as flowers or tiny intricate objects, or to mend broken objects.

There are two types of resins: Epoxy Resins and Polyester Resins. At Craftiviti Malaysia we only carry epoxy resin. 

Polyester ResinPolyester resin is slightly opaque and does not have the clarity of Epoxy Resin. Polyester is also quite toxic in nature so a well ventilated working area and a good mask is advisable when working with this material. Polyester Resin can be used to cast larger objects and is much cheaper to work with compared to Epoxy Resin. It is sold with a hardener which helps the resin cure and harden. Unlike Epoxy, polyester resins only need a few drops of the hardener to work it’s magic.

Epoxy ResinMany crafters love to work with epoxy resins simply for its crystal clear effect. Unlike polyester resin, epoxy resin is non-toxic and does not give off poisonous fumes. The cured resin is very hard, durable and safe to use. It is perfect for embedding flowers, photographs and just about anything else. Epoxy resin also needs a hardener or catalyst to cure. The ratio of resin to hardener depends on the product instructions. For our epoxy resin, a ratio of 2 parts resin to 1 part hardener is required.

People who enjoy making miniatures sometimes use resin to simulate water when creating beach and ocean scenes. Smaller amounts of resin can be used to design replicas of soups, liquid drinks, and fishbowls. Jewelry makers use epoxy resin to create necklaces, pins, bangles, bracelets, earrings, and rings that feature embedded glitter for a fun effect.

When compared to other traditional thermoset or thermoplastic resins, epoxy resins have distinct advantages, including:

• Low shrink during cure
• Excellent moisture resistance
• Excellent chemical resistance
• Good electrical properties
• Increased mechanical and fatigue strength
• Impact resistant
• No VOCs
• Long shelf life

Types of Epoxy Resin available

1) Clear Epoxy Resin – Clear flat casting

2) Soft Epoxy Resin – Flexible coating for stickers or flat surfaces

Materials needed while working with Epoxy Resin

– Disposable measuring cups
– Digital scale
– Disposable stirring sticks
– Items for embedding
– Silicone Release Agent
– Mold

Instructions

1) Epoxy resin can be measured by weight or volume. Before measuring, give the resin a stir and the hardener a good shake.

2) The ratio of 2 parts resin to 1 part hardener must be followed to other wise, curing will not happen. For example: 200g Epoxy Resin, you will need 100g hardener. Or 1 cup resin, half cup hardener.

3) While pouring the resin into the measuring cups, do so slowly so as to avoid bubbles. Tap the cups to release the bubbles to the surface.

4) Pour the hardener slowly in to the resin and mix well. Curing will not happen is the mixture is not well mixed.

5) Spray a layer of silicone release agent such as Weins Silicon Release Agent into the mold. This helps demold the cast once the resin is cured.

6) Slowly pour resin into mold or onto objects you would like to embed. Tap mold on the sides to release bubbles. You can also scope the surface bubbles out or prick them with a needle. You can also spray a thin layer of rubbing alcohol on the resin surface to help disperse the bubbles.

7) Resin will take 2 to 4 hours to fully cure depending on the thickness and size of the casting.

Epoxy Resin storage lifeWhen kept separate from hardener, epoxy resin has a long shelf life. Store both resin and hardener in a cool, dry area. And always make sure the can is tightly shut.

Cleaning up Epoxy ResinFor spillage or to clean up utensils, use Acetone, rubbing alcohol or any nail polish remover.

Molds for Epoxy ResinSilicone or latex molds are best for Epoxy Resins as the resin will not stick to the mold and demolding is easy.

You can make your own silicone molds with our RTV Silicone Rubber or with Smooth-On mold making materials.

For other molds such as plastic molds or trays, first spray on a layer of Silicone Release Agent to avoid sticking.

Embedding paper or imagesIf you would like to embed photographs or paper designs, it is best to seal your paper first. We recommend using Supergloss or White Modelling Glue. Coat the paper or photograph on the top, bottom and even on the sides to seal it. This will prevent the resin was seeping into the paper and turning it translucent.

Pigments and DyesTo tint the resin, you can use Mica’s and resin pigments and dyes which we carry in store.

Visit us at Craftiviti retail craft store in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia or you can buy online here.

Hidden Benefits of Kokum Butter

We have all heard of the wonderful benefits of mangosteen as a fruit that is ultra rich in antioxidants. So you will be amazed to know the kokum tree is also known as the wild mangosteen tree or Garcinia indica. This fruit-bearing tree is commonly found in Africa and the Western Ghats of India.

Kokum Butter is cold pressed from the kokum nut. Kokum butter is one of the most stable vegetable butters available in the market. It has a longer shelf life, and this is why we prefer the unrefined version of this butter.

While there are more common butters such as Shea Butter, Mango Butter and Cocoa Butter, Kokum butter is unique because unlike other butters, it does not clog the pores (non-comodegenic)

The health and beauty benefits of this butter is unknown to most people. However, industry professionals love working with this butter because of its ability to remain in a solid state at room temperature, but melt immediately on contact with the skin.

Kokum butter is one of the hardest butters in the market. Compared with other creamier butters, the kokum butter is dry and brittle with a nutty rich aroma. This makes is a suitable butter for balms, helps stabilize emulsions and add hardness to formulations.

Kokum butter is more emollient than most butters, possesses natural healing properties, and promotes regeneration of skin.

In the tropics, this butter is suitable for sun-kissed skin as it is very light, will not clog pores and will not sweat unlike other butters.

Some of the traditionally known benefits of Kokum butter are as follows:

• Restores skin flexibility
• Helps prevent drying of the skin
• Helps heal ulcers
• Heals fissures of the lips, hands and soles of feet
• Rejuvenate damaged skin cells
• Reduces degeneration of skin cells

Recommended Usage Percentage:
Lotions & Creams: 1-3%
Balms: 5-100%
Bar Soaps: 2-5%
Hair Conditioners: 1-3%

The only thing negative we can say about this ingredient is that it is too brittle a butter to work on its own. Kokum Butter will always been to be blended with other
oils and butters to make it hold better.

Get your Kokum Butter here >>

About Melt & Pour Soap Bases

The making of any soap requires lye.

If you are a mother worried about working or even storing lye (sodium hydroxide) around the house with your kids, switch to Melt & Pour for safer soap making.

What is Melt and Pour Soap Bases?

Melt & Pour Soap Bases have gone through the saponification process between good oils and lye to create soap. This means you do not have to work with or be in close contact with lye because we have done the work for you.

Melt & Pour Soap Bases are considered pre-made soaps that are waiting for customisation. Customisation includes adding your own custom color, scent and other additives such as plant powders or dehydrated fruit and flowers.

Melt & Pour Soap Bases is both fun and safe even for kids. You no longer have to work with lye to create your own soap.

What is our Melt & Pour Soap Bases made from.

Our M&P soap bases contain only good quality oils. We work hard to ensure our soap bases go through the necessary processes and requirements for safety and quality.

We also only work with vegetable based oils and none of our soaps contain any animal additive or alcohol. We even have certificates to proof this! The oils we use are coconut oil, palm oil and olive oil.

Our soaps also contain naturally derived glycerin from the saponification process. While some soap makers take away glycerin to formulate other more expensive products such as lotions and moisturisers, we leave all the good stuff in to help moisturise your skin.

For list of ingredients found in our soap bases, please click here and select the following products for a full description.

How to make soap with Craftiviti Soap Bases:

1. Melt soap base in a double boiler or microwave over low heat to prevent overcooking
2. Allow the melted base to cool for 5 minutes.
3. When using Essential Oils/Fragrance oils, add approximately 1tsp to 450gs of base weight. The strength of the scent will differ oil to oil.
4. Optional* add 1tbsp of shea or cocoa butter or any carrier oil to every 450g soap base
5. You can also add in soap dyes, scrubs or other additives such as lavender buds or rose petals and such
6. Pour into mold or container and let set for 2 to 3 hours
7. Once soap has hardened, pop it out and cling wrap the soap for keeping. Or you can even start cleansing with it right away.

For more soap making materials and DIY skincare ingredients, please visit our website www.craftiviti.com or visit our outlet at Petaling Jaya. 

Craft Glitter vs Cosmetic Glitter

You’ll find two types of glitters in the market and in our store.

• Craft Glitter
• Cosmetic Glitter

You may be wondering what’s the difference because they are packed and priced very differently.

So here’s why they are vastly different.

Craft glitter is a cheaper glitter that is widely available in any bookstore or craft shop. If you need to do a big project, fill a big space, have a limited budget, then craft glitter is the best way to go.

This glitter is great for party decorations, theater sets, floral deco, decorating ornaments and any school art project.

However, craft glitter cannot be used directly on the skin. This is a big No No. Mainly because the glitter is cut in a way that may hurt the skin and if too close, it may even get into the eyes. Craft glitter is also made with dye for the color will leach onto your skin.This means it can leave residue of dye all over your skin and face.

Meanwhile, cosmetic glitter are precision cut iridescent film particles made of special plastic (usually polyester) that is non-toxic and is usually much more expensive.

These skinsafe glitters are considered to be Cosmetic Grade. What does this mean? It means that the FDA has certified that the pigments/ingredients used in this glitter are safe for skin, lips & eyelids.

Cosmetic Grade polyester glitter is made lightweight for easy application to the body. This lightweight quality is wonderful for cosmetics but, it is not suited for art and industrial applications (where you want your glitter to really hold up).

Cosmetic glitters are fine in solvents and they are made from pigments not dyes, which does not leach onto the skin.

Cosmetic glitter is also much finer than craft glitter (flake size 0.008), and the individual particles are usually rounded rather than hexagonal so it won’t cut into your skin especially if it gets into your eyes.

Cosmetic glitters can be used for making soaps, make-up, nail polishes, lotions, hair gel and more.

All in all, depending on the type of craft you are into, always choose the right glitter. If you are formulating soaps or cosmetics, it is never safe to use the cheaper grades of glitter for obvious safety reasons.

For more soap making materials and DIY skincare ingredients, please visit our website www.craftiviti.com or visit our outlet at Petaling Jaya. 

If you’re into making really small objects or replicating small parts, try the Amazing Remelt (you can get it here).

Amazing Remelt helps you replicate and copy almost any 2-dimensional item with ease.

Let’s say you wanna make a bunch of coins or buttons or remold some figurines.

Depending on the size of the mold you need, you may want to only use part of the entire box. This is so you can keep the rest clean for when you need it later.

Just cut a small chunk out of the box. (It looks like jello but you can’t dig a spoon into it because this thing is a toughie.)

Instructions

Melt it in the microwave under the given instructions.

Pour it over the items you wish to replicate. Let cool.

It’s that simple.

The best part about this product is that it is completely remeltable for a good many rounds.

This means you get to make all sorts of casting projects.

Melt and remelt, melt and remelt, some say up to 20 times!

And the second thing we LOVE about this mold making product is that it is FDA approved and food safe!

Bakers get excited about this. Bakers can now make your own reusable safe molds for chocolates, candles, melts and more.

Just remember that this product will melt at around 55 Celsius so don’t pour anything too hot. Popping it into the oven is also a big no no.

Crafters can also cast loads of stuff with this mold. Try resin or wax (not too hot) or plaster.

And the moment the Amazing Remelt starts looking a little warn out, it is biodegradable and completely safe to be thrown away.

Here’s a tip…

To keep the mold lasting longer, wrap it in cling wrap to protect from dirt and keep it in the fridge till the next time.

Here’s the description on Alumilite’s website

Amazing Remelt is a Non Toxic, 1 part reusable mold making material for room temperature or low exotherm materials. Amazing Remelt softens at 120˚F and becomes liquid at 135˚-140˚F. It can be remelted and reused to make new molds time and time again. Ideal for making molds for smaller items such as jewelry, embellishments, and chocolate molds.

Product	Amazing Remelt
Color	Red
Mix Ratio	1 part
Open Time	Heat Activated
Demold Time	Upon Cooling
Mixed Viscosity (cps.) – at 130 F	800-1,200
Specific Gravity	1.25
Shore A Hardness	25
Tear Strength (psi)	n/a
Tensile Strength (psi)	n/a
Elongation	200%
Softening Point	120 F
FDA Comliant	Yes
Vacuum Required	n/a

For more craft materials, mold making tools and epoxy resin, please visit our website www.craftiviti.com or visit our outlet at Petaling Jaya.