A palette is a must-have tool for the miniatures painter. For years, I have used an old dinner plate as a palette. This has worked fine for many years, and for cleaning, could be put in a dishwasher. As I began using inks, I began using a small plastic palette with 'wells'. I now use cheap plastic palettes exclusively.
Cleaning acrylic paint from the plastic is no problem, as you will find that acrylic paint once dry will peel away. I did find that inks were much different. If the plastic scratched from digging out dried ink, cleaning was impossible.
I discovered the following trick by accident and have used this for many, many years to clean my plastic palettes.
![Two dirty palettes Two dirty palettes](workbench/pics/gen/2008/895643a.jpg)
My examples are two palettes. The one on the left was found in a box of old painting supplies, and is about six years old. The other palette is much newer, and has 4 different inks dried in the wells.
Cheap white glue is all you will need to clean these palettes.
I start by filling each well about one-quarter full. Then I take a craft stick and spread the white glue, coating the well and any flat surfaces that are stained. (You can also add a bit of water to the glue to assist with coverage.)
![Cover with white glue Cover with white glue](workbench/pics/gen/2008/895643b.jpg)
For dramatic effect, I have covered half of the palette on the left.
Let your palette sit overnight, allowing the white glue to dry completely.
Now the fun part. Using a craft knife (I prefer a blade larger than #11), poke into the dried glue and peal away all the paint and ink. You can see how well it will take the color from the cracks and scratches!
![Cleaned palettes Cleaned palettes](workbench/pics/gen/2008/895643c.jpg)
The palette on the left will get some additional white glue for its left side, as well as around the edges. Keep in mind that when spreading the glue, a thin layer is all that is needed.
This little trick works well on all types of palettes - porcelain, glass, aluminum or plastic.