sawdustanddiamonds

Hello, I am moving to the US in a few weeks. I will be taking all of my belongings in two large suitcases with me on the plane, but I need to send a separate box full of art materials. It will be around 20kg perhaps containing mostly tubs of paint and some paint brushes etc. Now, even though the paints are water based (non-toxic) all of the shipping companies I have researched inc. FEDEX and DHL and Anglo Pacific all state that liquids are prohibited. I wondered if anyone had any experience shipping liquids or paints and could give me some advice on what companies are able to do this? There is no rush for the delivery although ideally I'd like it to arrive before the end of August.

Just to note, the paints are very expensive and have already been imported from Switzerland so it would be more expensive for me to replace them all !

I hope that someone is able to help

Sally Redux

All I know is that we were told not to ship any paints.

RICH

Sounds extremely specialist. As the obvious shippers have said no, try contacting the paint manufacturer. How do they distribute their product? And how did you get it from Switzerland to UK?

My guess is it will still be cheaper to replace it when you get here.

Brando

I took some of my art stuff (purely hobby, so nothing very expensive!), BUT I didn't take any liquids, as it was stated as being prohibited by the company I shipped 2 boxes with. So didn't want to risk it. So no ink or paints where packed.

fatbrit

jerrysartarama.com or dickblick.com -- far easier than mucking about.

Bob

If it's unopened, it's probably do able, if it's opened, flog it and buy new as it will be cheaper and easier.

HighCountry

We use Jerry's a lot. It's hard to beat some of those prices, and probably cheaper than specialist shipping.

fatbrit

Yep -- don't know where we'd be without their 30-yd canvas rolls.

The Horticulturalist

For those of you who shop from these two stores regularly do you find that one is typically cheaper than the other or does it depend what you are buying?

I have a cart full of stuff at Blicks, mostly paint, clay, paper and such.

fatbrit

It's neck and neck most of the time with our stuff, although some items (such as canvas) are exclusive to one. I order between $500 and $1k of supplies every month between them, and find that web coupons, free mail over a certain amount, and even whether you are taxed makes more of a difference than the prices. We do large, mixed-media painting -- Golden, Liquitex products dominate the order list.

sawdustanddiamonds

Thanks you guys. Yes, they are specialist. They are made in Switz and distributed to a few places around the world, I live in London so there's one shop that stocks them here. I've checked out both jerrysartarama.com and dickblick.com but they only stock teeny tiny 85ml pots and I use 500ml pots... BUT I've sent them an email so fingers crossed...