"Howard Hues. I know they're supposed to be thick but…." Topic

…as thick as peanut butter?

Picked up a bag of HH paints at an auction on Sunday. They're not dried out, but they are much thicker than originally. Some are almost like peanut butter or wet plaster. Can I just add water to them or should I use Matte medium or is there something better?

I've had good experiences with HH paints at the Paint and Take's before so I'm looking forward to trying these out.

Thanks!

I would just add water to them. You should be able to save them. A little Vaseline on the threads will help the seal.

Agreed. Just add water.

What Heisler said. I have a couple jars I bought back in the 90s, still going strong with just a little bit of water added after each use.

Use distilled water if you can

I've gotten a few bottles of HH that were brand-new and already thick like paste. But as everyone else has said, just add water

I would recommend a matt acrylic medium like Liquitex rather than water; I find that using just water can sometimes affect the density of the pigment.

Better than water – thin them out with a touch of isopropyl alcohol – I've found this works much better.

I'll second vaseline on the threads as well.

Thanks for the suggestions folks. Looks like I'll be able to save these.
Appreciated.

A&D is pretty much the same as vaseline right?

Basically a petroleum jelly to lubricate the threads and keep the paint from sticking and drying. If the threads do get gunked up… sometimes using a percussive method on the side of the table cracks it enough to unscrew the lids of the howard hues paints. I still have most of mine floating around someplace and it's been quite a while I had them. They were a big sponsor for the Hobby U teams.