Microfiber Towels

 Above: "Almanzor" resin, sculpted by Brigitte Eberl, finished by me. Private collection.

Continuing on the subject of useful things in the studio, I love microfiber towels. I get a big bag of the yellow ones from Costco every so often as they're useful in the studio as well as around the house. Mine generally start off being used to gently dust horses. My studio tends to be more than a little dusty, and that can be a problem when painting. I carefully remove dust and fuzzies from each horse using a microfiber towel before spraying the horse with Dull Cote.

The microfiber holds dust and dirt in, so it's not as likely to just spread the dust around as other towels will. And it's nice and soft, so it doesn't tend to scratch that delicate finishwork before sealing.

When I need to lay horses down, I'll often put down a microfiber towel to protect them from hard surfaces. I'm currently painting a group of 60 small-scale horses (larger than micro mini, smaller than stablemate), and I have found it useful to lay half of them down on a towel on a tray, lay another towel over them, and then lay the other half on top. Saves me a few trips up and down the stairs to spray all these little horses!

I also wrap horses in towels when transporting them to shows. It protects the paint and adds just a little bit of cushioning. And, if I happen to spill something either at a show or in the studio, I always have a towel handy! They're washable, though I try to wash all microfiber together to stop it picking up lint from other fabrics.