How to Stop Your Paints from Drying Out: Wet Palette Secrets
Published by buzzadmin | March 19, 2026
The Enemy of Every Painter: Dried Out Paint
Picture the scene: you’ve just mixed the perfect highlight colour for your Ork Warboss. You turn around to grab your model, look back, and the paint has turned into a chalky, unusable crust. Acrylic paints, including the entire Citadel range, dry exceptionally fast. While this is great for applying multiple coats quickly, it’s a nightmare for blending and preserving custom colour mixes.
Enter the Wet Palette
A wet palette is the single most important upgrade you can make to your hobby desk. It consists of a shallow tray, a damp sponge (or paper towel layer), and a sheet of semi-permeable hydration paper on top. The water slowly wicks up through the paper, keeping your acrylic paints hydrated and workable for hours, or even days if you put the lid on!
How to Set Up Your Wet Palette
- Place your sponge flat in the tray.
- Add just enough cold tap water so the sponge is fully saturated, but water isn’t sloshing over the top when you tilt the tray.
- Lay your hydration paper flat on top. Smooth out any major air bubbles so the paper sits flush against the damp sponge.
- Apply a small dab of paint, like Mephiston Red, and marvel as it stays fluid.
A wet palette not only saves you money on wasted paint but naturally thins it to that perfect “two thin coats” consistency. Grab the paints you need from our Citadel collection and start painting smarter, not harder.
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