Comments on: Lessons Learnt Using Wood Burning Paste for the First Time

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:13:33 +0000

In reply to Andrea.

Oh wow, I didn’t know that. I love my zoute dropjes, it’s the only licorice I’ll eat.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:38:29 +0000

I haven’t actually tried it myself but I’m very curious to make the paste at home and see how this turns out! A little note on the toxicity of ammonium chloride, I don’t know what happens when you digest it in pure form, but Dutchies but this stuff in candy. Its one of our famous liquorice flavours, it’s a very specific taste. So while I would not advise to go eat it (please don’t), I don’t think it would do immediate harm.
For dutchies out there, we know this stuff as “salmiak”.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 07:49:10 +0000

In reply to Lisa Miranda.

I’m on my second tub already and really enjoying the paste. I hope you have fun with yours too, Lisa

By: Lisa Miranda

Lisa Miranda — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 23:22:50 +0000

Thank you for your craft,I’ve been doing penny crosses,but this is so much better, can’t wait to start

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 16:52:19 +0000

In reply to Lois.

Hey Lois, I tried the torch paste on a bamboo platter and it works like a charm. The only thing I did was sand it well to get rid of the oil or varnish that it had been treated with before applying the torch paste. Oh, and wipe the sawdust off after sanding. Bamboo is quite a hard wood so it burns beautifully.

By: Lois

Lois — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 15:39:48 +0000

What would you use to pre treat bamboo before using this process?

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 08:39:44 +0000

In reply to Jake.

You are a super star, Jake. Thank you so much. I hope you don’t mind that I added your comment as a screen shot to the post.

By: Jake

Jake — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 19:18:44 +0000

You left out one key step with making your own paste use warm water mix the ammonium chloride until it is fully dissolved then add the corn starch or what ever thickener your using mix well then add heat I use the microwave at 30 sec runs mixing in-between until it’s thick like a paste. You can use the stove or any heat source just keep it low and slow or you will destroy it (ask me how I know). Then add some food coloring so you can see what your doing. Tips if it doesn’t seem thick enough keep heating it don’t add more thickener because it will cause horrible bubbles that get bigger as you heat up the paste with your heat gun and destroy your image. Also if you make more than you need keep it in a cool place like a fridge to keep it from separating because you can try to mix it back together but nothing works it will be a loss.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 07:13:29 +0000

In reply to Mark Andrews.

Thanks, Mark. I’d love to know how it turns out.

By: Mark Andrews

Mark Andrews — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 16:09:32 +0000

I tried to make the paste myself.
It has taken 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and it is still not a “paste”.
Trying it out soon and I’ll update.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 06:52:51 +0000

In reply to Jan T.

Thanks for the valuable tip, Jan. I’d hate for anyone to mess up their pyrography pens.

By: Jan T

Jan T — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 18:24:46 +0000

I have a “don’t do” to tell everyone. You CANNOT do actual wood burning over the torch paste. It gums up the tips on the wood burner. Be happy with just using the torch paste and heat gun as intended. Use a wood burning tool on bare wood only.