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I'm so grateful to find this site after too many Google searches and no useful results. The projects I've seen here are beautiful and inspiring, and everyone seems so helpful, so now I'm turning to the experts for help.
I'm new to papier mache and I'm starting small with a basic bowl. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a PM recipe that is food safe. The basic flour and water seems like it would be safe but when combined with newsprint does it become toxic somehow? I wouldn't put cooked food in it, just unwrapped candy, like M&Ms or Skittles.
Thank you for your answers. Now I'm off to spend another few hours marveling at all the beautiful work on this site!
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personally I would not use newspaper paper for a food bowl, most newsprint ink is mixed with reclaimed motor engine oil. Very nasty stuff. But you could use any of the recipes that use craft paper or kitchen roll/toilet tissue with out any significant problems, as far as I know.
What ever you choose you will have to seal the papiermache in some way. Papiermache is hydroscopic, that is it will absorb water from a humid atmosphere. Hence the need to protect against mold. You can safely use varnish, as long as you check the label and there are other methods you could use, gesso then paint, and I have come across a pressed paper artist who uses wax much as you do with wood.
If you are planning to use the bowl for sweets then why not line it with a doilly or napkin, it would protect your food stuff and also prevent the sweets colouring the bowl (particulary skittles which stain). You would not be able to clean the bowl that easily anyway.
Hope that helps.
Charlotte
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For your uses, varnish would probably be fine. If you wanted to be a bit safer, use real shellac, which is actually edible and food-safe when dry, as it is alcohol-based. In fact, pills and some candies are coated with shellac, FDA-approved (for whatever THAT is worth).
Article: "Shellac is Not a Bitter Pill to Swallow", http://www.spectroscopynow.com/coi/cda/ … amp;page=1
Sue
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I agree shellac is the way to go. Completely food safe. I used it on toys I made for my son when he was of the gnawing age. Never had any troubles.
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I don't know if it's true or not, but, on another papier mache forum I belong to, I recall a member telling us that newsprint ink is soy-based nowadays and safe. English fish & chips are traditionally served wrapped in newsprint, I believe, and some people use newsprint as litter for their rodents, so I don't imagine it's terribly toxic, or at least, negligibly so. A lot of people read newspapers while they're eating--they're probably getting some ink on their fingers, and then, into their mouths, if they're eating with their hands at the same time.
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Thank you for all the input. Catperson, I loved the shellac link. Who knew! It did get a bit technical toward the end, but all that information was fascinating.
I think I will try shellac, but for the time being, with this particular bowl I made, I will use some kind of protective insert, a napkin or doily as Patraw suggested.
I haven't posted a picture on this site, but I will attempt it. If you'd like to take a look. As I said in my first post, it's quite basic. I made a bowl using pages from an old book that I got from recycling. I'm a writer, so anything having to do with books and words gets my interest.
Thanks again for your input!
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