What makes a good paint binder?

Today we began making our own paint in earnest. We have concluded that paint is basically made of two parts - a colour and a binder that is sticky and dries out.

Today we tested toothpaste, vinegar, honey, conditioner, hand cleansing gel, liquid soap, peanut butter, glue, and mayonnaise.  

The results we got show that:

Honey - 4

- too sticky not good spreadability

- looks like paint and can spread well

- doesn't dry

Rating - X

Toothpaste - 2

- dries very well

- sticks well when has water added

- spreads better with a bit of water

- hard to mix, lumpy

Rating - 1 tick

Mayonnaise - 2

- too runny for some

- sticks to the paper

- dries slowly

- mixes easaily but doesn't cover super well

Rating - 1 and a half ticks

Vinegar- 4

- dries quickly

- looks like dye but covers ok

- really runny

- sticks on the paper

- spreads nicely

Rating - 1 and a half ticks

Peanut butter- 0

- smudgy - not easy to paint with, too stiff and lumpy

- doesn't dry

Rating - X

Liquid soap -3

- dries properly

- good coverage

- sticks on the page

- mixes well

Rating - two ticks

Conditioner -0

- may need to check as second batch mixed well and stayed on the paper well which the first batch did not - the second batch had some water in it.

Rating - X

Hand gel -0

- comes out dark - and covers the paper well

- dries well

- nice and spreadable

Rating - one and half tick

Glue -2

- stuck well

- dried well and fast

- covers well

- the colour comes out well

Rating - 1 tick

After discussion we think we will try liquid soap as it is thinker and stickier than vinegar which would be the other choice.

When we have chosen our paint colours we could try them both and see which is best.