art journal tip

for pages that don't stick!

After I posted the flip-through video of my art journal last month (head over to this post to watch it), some of you asked me “How come your pages don’t stick together??” Indeed this is a question I get a lot from students in my online class The Artist & the Journal, but there’s a very simple and easy little trick that I use all the time and it works like magic! I’m sharing it in this quick video so your beautiful pages never have to stick again.

There are different ways to prevent your pages from sticking, and my favorite is to rub a coat of Cold Wax Medium over the whole page. I use the one by Gamblin and I like the easy-to-carry format of their smallest jar. Click here to find the exact product I use on Amazon (affiliate link).

** Edit 2022: Furniture wax works just as well and many brands are available (Annie Sloan, Rustoleum etc.) Nowadays my favorite is the Beeswax by Miss Murstard Seed: it’s a more natural alternative and it smells heavenly! **

How to wax your pages

First, make sure that your page is fully dry (give it at least 24hrs) and that any water-soluble supplies you may have used are sealed so they won’t bleed. Then use a soft cloth to rub the wax over the whole page, including the fold in the middle. I like to use a piece of an old T-shirt, old sheet or kitchen towel. A thin layer is enough and a little wax goes a long way!

Then, keep your journal open flat and let the page dry for another 24 hrs. Cold Wax Medium is made of beeswax + a solvent. The solvent needs a little time to evaporate so only the wax remains. Once dry, you can buff your page with the same cloth to remove any excess wax. NB: The solvent in cold wax is odorless, but it is still a solvent, so make sure to always work in a well-ventilated area.

waxing the whole journal

I usually wax all my pages at once after my whole journal is full. I’ll usually wax the covers too. Then I stand it upright and fan out all the pages to let them dry. I like that this way I’m only using a single small cloth for the whole journal.

And above all, it’s a nice little ritual to go through all the pages again, take a fresh look at them and complete this art journaling journey. A journal will last me a couple of years, so emotionally, it’s kind of a big deal!

How to dispose of your cloth

First, whathever kind of wax you’re using, make sure you let your cloth dry flat for a few days before you dispose of it, to make sure the solvent has fully evaporated. Do not leave it crumpled or throw it directly into the bin as depending on the product, there might be a risk of self-combustion (make sure to read the manufacturer’s instructions). Once dry, all that’s left on your cloth is wax.

With 100% natural beeswax like the one by Miss Mustard Seed, and with a 100% cotton cloth (like a piece from an old sheet or t-shirt), you can actually compost your cloth! After it has fully dried, I’ll shred it with my scissors, and put the tiny bits in my compost bin.
In the case of Cold Wax Medium, even though this is also mostly beeswax, there might be some synthetic resin as well, so I wouldn’t compost it and simply throw it in the trash. That’s not my favorite solution but since I usually wax my journal once it’s finished, it means I’m just throwing away one small piece of old t-shirt every couple of years, and I can live with that.

Extra tip:

Here is something else to keep in mind when you create your pages: if you are using acrylic gel medium for collage, your pages will stick a lot less if you use matte gel instead of gloss. The Liquitex one is my favorite and you can find it HERE (affiliate link).

I hope you found this useful! It is such a joy to effortlessly flip through a beautiful art journal. If you would like to see more about the page featured in the video, go to my previous post here, where I share plenty more about its process and story.

I share everything I know about art journaling in my online class The Artist & the Journal and I would love to see you there!

Find out more about this class

Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll share my latest painting!

Light & love,

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