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The Science Behind QoR

12 thoughts on “The Science Behind QoR”

  1. I am planning to buy some QOR watercolors but would like to know if they are lightfast and permanent. I have been painting with Golden Heavy and Fluid paints for over 35 years and think they are the best. I need a new ‘adventure’ and think watercolors would be a challenge but I always thought that that medium was not fadeproof and archival. Could QOR be what I’m looking for? Marie LyonI

    I do not have a website.

    Reply
    • Hello Marie,

      Thank you for supporting our acrylic products for such a long time. Actually, the majority of our QoR colors have an ASTM Lightfastenss of I (excellent) and just a handful have a II (very good), thus these colors are just as lightfast as our acrylic colors. In same cases our QoR tube label don’t list an ASTM rating for the specific pigments used. This happens either when there is no official ASTM rating for the pigment yet, or when our own lightfastness testing performed differently/better than the ASTM rating for the same type of pigment. You will find more information on the topic in these two articles:

      QoR Lightfastness Testing Update: https://justpaint.org/qor-lightfastness-testing-update/
      QoR® Watercolor Questions: Labeling and Lightfastness Ratings: https://justpaint.org/qor-watercolor-questions-labeling-and-lightfastness-ratings/

      Reply
  2. Hi there,
    I’m interested in buying QoR watercolors and would like to know how one should go about handling dirty paint water. Given the binder is made of a synthetic substance, should I care for and dispose of dirty paint water the same way I would of acrylic paint? Are there any negative impacts of pouring the water down a regular residential drain?

    Reply
    • Hello, Kelly.
      Thank you for your question. The QoR binder is known as Aquazol and is listed as being a very safe binder.
      According to the parent company’s website https://www.polychemistry.com/products/aquazol/

      You can find quite a lot of information at their website, but I thought this might be most pertinent to your question:
      Neither the polymer nor any of the components of the monomer are included on the CA prop 65 list of
      toxic or cancer causing chemicals as of January 2015.
      Aquazol® is approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration for use as an indirect food
      additive (as an adhesive) under 21 CFR 175.105.

      I hope this helps, but if you do have any other questions about our paints and how to properly dispose of them, please contact us at [email protected], or call us and ask for our Health & Safety Department, who will be happy to provide additional details.
      – Mike Townsend

      Reply
  3. Interesting article.

    I wonder: can the aquazol medium can also be used on the Golden acrylic paints (other than the qor watercolours)?

    And if that is possible, what would be the effects on the qualities of the resulting acrylic paint?

    The reason why I am thinking about this is because the article mentions that aquazol is a water soluble polymer, and if I remember correctly so is the acrylic binder.

    Reply
    • Hello, Thank you for your question. We would consider mixing and/or layering Aquazol and water-borne acrylic to be experimental. Once it is dry Aquazol, like watercolor, can be re-dissolved through the addition of water and will then become usable again. Once acrylic dries it resists water, and adding water will not result in a usable paint or medium. We hope this is helpful!

      Reply
  4. Can you give any advice on using Aquazol with Lascaux Resoluble Acrylic ? I have successfully ground pigment extensively into the amazing Lascaux resoluble but would now like to do the same with Aquazol and pigment and wonder whether the two mediums are compatable? Any help would be gratefully received… Many thanks Nicholas Hacking

    Reply
    • Hello Nicholas, we would consider this combination to be experimental, and do not know how it will work. There are also many versions of Aquazol, and they might not all react in the same way to being made into paint, or to being combined with acrylic products. We suggest that you do some small mixing tests to start with, and if the combination behaves well then progress to test applications of the mixtures. The “Testing for your application” article on Just Paint might be helpful. We wish you success!

      Reply

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