Review: PADICO Sealers

It's been a while since I did a crafting related review of any kind! Usually I'm the type to stick to one kind of product because I'm lazy and I don't want to waste my money anymore by buying something and trying it out, only to find that it doesn't perform how I want it to... You can read about my previous reviews on clay finishes under the tag here.(Where all said badly performing products mentioned are still with me in storage lol). This is a review for Padico's Sealers in Super Gloss and Matte.

I know by now I should be investing in a UV lamp and resin, but I'm not quite at that stage yet! I've been using Sculpey Glaze since forever because it's readily available, it provides the glossy coat I want, and it doesn't dry tacky (under dry air conditions). However, it adheres weakly to clay and I find that it doesn't really protect it when the piece gets banged against a hard surface.

I'm sure these Padico products are not new but I came across them while randomly searching for finishes because my Sculpey Glaze was running out and I was fed up and decided to try something new! The downside here is that I wouldn't be able to easily buy this in a store but it actually got to me pretty quickly from Hong Kong. I purchased these online from this store and even with the markup in price, it ended up more or less the same price for the same volume (only if I used a Michael's coupon for the glaze, otherwise this is cheaper). 

I usually opt for glossy finish so this is my first time trying a matte one. I can't say I'm familiar with other matte finishes but this one on my cookie cat pendant looks pretty good. However, it gives the piece an eggshell-like feeling/coating and another bad point is that when scratched, it is quite obvious. I was going to use this for my future bakery items but now I am not so keen on it, especially for items that go through a lot of wear, like charms and pins.

The gloss finish is very shiny and the label (in Japanese, another downside, but I could Google translate) reads that you need to mix before application and you would need 1-3 coats. Can't say much about durability yet but so far even with this recent humidity and heat we've been having, the outcome is very smooth and 100% non-tacky! So far so good...! Both formulas are cloudy and dry to a clear finish. I'm pleased with the results and will probably stick to this sealer permanently.

That's all for this review... FYI, I am not sponsored by that Etsy store or Padico in any way. Actually, one thing I did notice was that the Matte sealer amount in the bottle was a lot less than the Super Gloss one (you can tell a little from the photo) when I received it. I messaged the seller and they told me it hadn't been opened before... but unless the product evaporates or something I have a feeling they might've cheated me. Sadly, I can't buy directly from the Padico official website because they don't seem to ship to my location. Oh well ...that's all for this review. Thanks for reading! :) 

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EDIT: 08/18/2019: I don't recommend using this on polymer clay AT ALL because after a while in storage, the gloss varnish tends to get tacky and particularly on things made with black polymer clay, it forms bubbles. I feel like polymer clay needs to "breathe" and this isn't the right medium for it...  the matte varnish is better, but it too does become tacky and attracts a lot of dust after a while. I've had to re-coat my pieces with Sculpey glaze but doesn't help and doesn't perform as well as Sculpey glaze for some reason. Really disappointed! Perhaps this will be more suited for air dry clay or resin clay. This is a lesson that you should do a shelf life test on some scrap clay before glazing the real thing... I guess I got a little ahead of myself because I was so excited to try these!!