A: There is a quick way to mix Sodium Alginate powder. Alginate (as it's commonly called) is a natural thickening agent derived from seaweed. It comes in a powered form that must be reconstituted with water before use. After reconstitution it has a jelly like consistency. It is used to thicken dyes for painting or silk-screening. It's brown and kind of smelly (non-toxic though), but the alginate itself is washed out after the dyes are set and leaves no residual colour or odour.

The problem with alginate is that it lumps up like bad gravy and needs to be left overnight to work itself out and it still might be lumpy. Some people will resort to power-tools to speed up the mixing process. Breathe a sigh of relief, fore there is a technique you can use to mix alginate in an hour or two without a trip to the hardware store. The key is using a wide shallow type of container. I use a cat litter tray (unused for it's original intent I assure you). How it works is this: fill the tray with 1 liter of water, sprinkle 2 to 5 tablespoons (depending how thick you require) of alginate over the surface of the water. DO NOT STIR! Allow the alginate to soak up the water and become wet. It changes from sandy beige to darker brown. This takes any where from one to two hours depending on the size of your tray (the smaller the container, the thicker the layer of dry alginate, the longer it takes to moisten) and the amount of alginate you're making. When the alginate is wet, it only takes five minutes of stirring it into the water to get a smooth, ready to use solution. Remember to store your left over alginate in a clearly labeled airtight container in a cool dry place. The refridgerator being ideal.

This dissolving technique also works well with our marbling base, a.k.a. methyl cellulose.