Salt Sand Issue

[Belgian]

After my last issue with salt crystals (thought it were some kind of stones, were sold as such ...) I cut out those from my basing method but recently noticed that some of my new bases started to "sweat" again. Think it's also the sand that I use in combination with not ideal storage condition due to renovations etc. Has somebody experience with this issue and would washing the sand work or would I better use another type of sand? Also have the bad habitat of not varnishing my bases, might be an issue too. Seems to effect only miniatures based on plastic bases and not mdf ones. Pointers appreciated. Thanks!

[Daeothar]

Beach sand should be mixed with fresh water for a while (couple of days), regularly stirred and the water replaced with more fresh water.

This should dissolve all the salt. Then bake it in an oven to kill all the beasties and your problem should be solved.

For already applied sand, a layer of a mix of PVA and matt medium should prevent any ambient moisture from reaching the salt...

[Belgian]

Thanks, much appreciated. Will try that!

[Burgundavia]

Not used salt or had that issue, but wondering if your mdf bases are absorbing whatever is leaching out and the plastic ones aren't, hence the issue.

[snitcythedog]

I have to echo Daeothar on his two points.  When using natural materials of any kind, whether collected or purchased, rinsing first is a must.  Then baking.  I generally bake at 70C for an hour to be sure that it kills anything that may grow.   

If you accidentally purchased something that is heavily salted it will show up immediately in this process. 

My first port of call is usually either collected beach sand or purchased bird grit. 

If I collect, I usually use some fairy liquid to cut any oil that may be present. 

[FifteensAway]

I have no issue with the sand I use.  I bought a bag of clean and unused playground sand (in USA) and no issues - meant for children so safety matters so no issues with this material.  Down side is it comes in a 50 pound bag but up side is it lasts forever, a dozen years on I'm only about half way through after using a huge quantity on terrain projects, basing of figures uses minimal quantities, only used for desert based games (French Foreign Legion) and pirates for beaches so far.

[Lord Raglan]

Always seal the sand with a 50/50 water PVA mix, that way it will never give you a problem regardless what’s in it

[BeneathALeadMountain]

I’d echo Daeothar & Snitcythedog about cleaning/drying and instead recommend bird grit/sand as a perfect medium - I’m still using the same source after many years. I simply crush some slate and/or break up set dental plaster to add variety. I stick this all down with Gorilla Glue super glue (easy, quick, sturdy and can be dismantled if needed with old clippers generally without damaging the mini). This particular cyanoacrylate seems to do a similar job to PVA and water mix by seeping throughout the medium and sealing it solid.

Sadly with the state of our greater environment the number of possible contaminants present in anything collected is depressingly high - your problem sounds like moisture (but could be exacerbated by other unhelpful factors) especially as it mainly occurs on plastic bases.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain