Breaking up water softener salt pellets

I'm all about saving money whenever possible.

We're a very small scale operation here at The Wits' End.  We make all of our screens and presses by hand.  I screen the items that people order on the island by the kitchen sink.  I hope to eventually move everything out to the garage, but the plumbing is not there and getting it installed is very expensive. Being on a fixed income, I have to conserve money as much as possible (the sales are not yet really happening for the store).  One of the ways that I do that is to use fifty pound bags of water softener salt pellets for use when I need to hand dye items.  Dyeing requires a lot of salt.  I can get a fifty pound bag for something in the range of $4.00 US.

Those things are hard!

The problem with using the pellets is that they are incredibly hard.  I've tried hammering them, I've tried using a mortar and pestle, I've tried putting them in a burlap bag and slamming them against concrete.  None of those worked.  I've gone through a number of blenders.  They work, but they don't last very long. I get the blenders cheaply when they are on sale, or through thrift stores, but it irks me to be continually spending money on something when I'm trying to save money.

A Ninja to the rescue.

After the last blender died, I decided to look at other options.  I have a Ninja Express Chop that I picked up for less than $20.00 a year or so ago and don't use for food any more.  Knowing how hard the pellets are, I knew that the plastic wouldn't hold up to being knocked around by the blades for very long. I took some Duck tape and put a couple of layers around it. That way, it keeps the plastic from shattering, and if it does develop a crack it won't leak. That's important, since I now make a slurry by adding water, instead of just grinding the pellets up while they're dry.  It's not quite as convenient since I can't really do any up in advance, but it doesn't take long to do two or three cups of salt as needed, so it's not that bad.  I've been doing this for a while now, and the Ninja isn't showing any signs of dying.

The 'Future' of my screens?

Using acrylic floor finish on my screens

OK, Ok, that title was a horrible pun.  However; I did want to talk about something I've been experimenting with for the last couple of days.  The usage of acrylic floor finish (similar to Future (which I suppose is now a Pledge floor finish that includes Future)) on my screens.

It goes on the frames

I make my own screens.  I generally do this with 'stretcher bars' which are made to stretch canvas.  I like them because I can get the bars in various sizes so I can make a variety of different sized screens.  One problem with them is that unless I do something to make them water resistant, they will warp as I wash the screens following the application of emulsion or ink.  I've tried various ways of making them water resistant.  Thompson's Water Seal spray, spray acrylic fixative, duck tape (or duct, if you prefer that), Mod Podge.  Nothing really struck me as exceptionally useful/easy/cost effective.

I have some off-brand acrylic floor finish that I use to protect and add gloss to some of my polymer clay items.  It occurred to me that it might work really well in making the stretcher bars water resistant.  Turns out that it's excellent.  Exceptionally easy to apply, and not very expensive.  So far, it seems to be working very well; however, I'm going to have to stress test some of the frames over the coming weeks to see how long it holds up.

It goes on the screens themselves

I've also been using it to fill in the borders of the screen printing fabric that do not have emulsion. That has to be done to keep the ink from getting through to the material.  I generally use tape on both sides of the screen, mostly the blue painters tape (which sticks surprisingly well, considering how easy it is to get off when I want it off), although sometimes I'll use clear packing tape. I have also tried Mod Podge, because it helps to be able to see though to the shirt/item beneath the screen to get the position right - something that's not possible with the painters tape. However, I've never really been too satisfied with the Mod Podge for this.  It's slow to apply, and it's more translucent than transparent.

So I've been using the acrylic floor finish for this too.  So far I'm mostly satisfied.  It's very clear, and it's doing a great job of keeping the ink from getting through.  On the downside, with the fabric store fabric that I use (haven't tried it on actual screen print fabric yet), I have to use at least two coats to fill everything in.  Being much easier to apply than the Mod Podge, this isn't really a big deal though.

Now it's just a matter of stress testing the fabric too.  I'll have to see how well it stands up to the repeated washings and scrubbing with soft-bristled nylon brushes when I'm cleaning the screen.