Hairspray questions

[spikey]

I'm experimenting with different powdered stuffs like crushed slate dust, coal dust, various ashes and suchlike to use as ground cover in my goods yard.   These I'm spreading in thick layers over PVA then pressing them down, and I'm currently waiting for my first trials to dry.

 

I've read that the once they're dry and I've hoovered off any excess, it's a good idea to spray the surface with hairspray in order to protect it.  What's a (hopefully cheap) hairspray brand that works well for this lark, or would I in fact be better off investing in some kind of proper fixative spray?

 

Also, one material which so far looks very promising is the sieved ash from the smokeless fuel we burn at home, but it has a horrible pong to it.  What's the odds on the hairspray or whatever sealing the finished surface well enough to contain a smell?

[mwrosebury2000]

I have used Tesco value hairspray in the past and it worked well but I had to clean the rails after. As for smell I can't comment.

 

P.S. Hairspray stinks (& is prob bad for you) so make sure that the windows & doors are open.

 

Mark

[ozthedog]

 

This shows the effect that can be achieved with sieved wood ash from  oak logs.  The ash was laid down as a thick layer and then fixed with the same mixture as used for ballasting -  30% PVA solution in a water/IPA mix.  Works quite well but difficult to get the ash to wet with the PVA. 

Edited November 6, 2017 by ozthedog

[Gordon A]

 

This shows the effect that can be achieved with sieved wood ash from  oak logs.  The ash was laid down as a thick layer and then fixed with the same mixture as used for ballasting -  30% PVA solution in a water/IPA mix.  Works quite well but difficult to get the ash to wet with the PVA. 

 

That is what a few drops of washing up liquid in with the pva / water mix are for, reduce surface tension.

 

Gordon A

[spikey]

This shows the effect that can be achieved with sieved wood ash from  oak logs.  The ash was laid down as a thick layer and then fixed with the same mixture as used for ballasting -  30% PVA solution in a water/IPA mix.  Works quite well but difficult to get the ash to wet with the PVA. 

 

That appears to be exactly the effect I'm after, ozthedog.  Do you happen to have another shot or two of that area please?

Edited November 7, 2017 by spikey

[TheSignalEngineer]

I have used Tesco value hairspray in the past and it worked well but I had to clean the rails after. As for smell I can't comment.

 

P.S. Hairspray stinks (& is prob bad for you) so make sure that the windows & doors are open.

 

Mark

Unperfumed hair spray is available. I bought some from Superdrug.

[crazynitwit]

I'm experimenting with different powdered stuffs like crushed slate dust, coal dust, various ashes and suchlike to use as ground cover in my goods yard. These I'm spreading in thick layers over PVA then pressing them down, and I'm currently waiting for my first trials to dry.

 

I've read that the once they're dry and I've hoovered off any excess, it's a good idea to spray the surface with hairspray in order to protect it. What's a (hopefully cheap) hairspray brand that works well for this lark, or would I in fact be better off investing in some kind of proper fixative spray?

 

Also, one material which so far looks very promising is the sieved ash from the smokeless fuel we burn at home, but it has a horrible pong to it. What's the odds on the hairspray or whatever sealing the finished surface well enough to contain a smell?

You could use hair spray but Javis do a pva type glue that once watered down 50:50 and a couple of drops of washing up liquid it works well for sealing in ground cover

[ozthedog]

That appears to be exactly the effect I'm after, ozthedog.  Do you happen to have another shot or two of that area please?

 

 

The layout was dismantled when I moved house 5 years ago so I only have 1 more photo (above).  This shows the yard from the opposite end.  The patchy appearance next to the wagons is shadow as the light was coming from the left.  I should have said in my earlier post that I added detergent to the PVA.  Even so it was difficult to wet the ash.  Despite this I think the effect is worth the effort.  I am just about to use the same method in the goods yard of my new layout.

Edited November 8, 2017 by ozthedog

[spikey]

Thank you very much indeed, ozthedog.  I tried a couple of experiments yesterday and found that for me, what works well is to saturate (as opposed to "wet") the ash then use Ballast Bond.  I don't know what the magic ingredient is in that stuff, but it sure works better than washing-up liquid does in dilute PVA!

 

I'm only left with two small problems now.  One is how to eliminate the white bits from our wood ash, and the other is finding out what's the best way to arrive at a flat area of wood ash without it looking like it's been steamrollered.  How did you you it?

Edited November 9, 2017 by spikey

[ozthedog]

How did I do it?

 

Not sure if it is relevant but the underlay is 2mm closed cell foam which is less solid than cork ie more compressible.  Its actually quite a thin layer of ash except between the sleepers.  Because you do have to saturate it with the PVA my problem was to avoid a puddling effect rather than steam rollering.  If it looks wrong in places you can just go over it again.  Its probably best to build it up in layers.  Time consuming but worth it.

 

Not sure if this helps.  It is just trial and error - best on a test piece away from the layout!

 

Keith