Amaco Rub 'n Buff - The Rest

Of the 17 different colors of Rub 'n Buff currently available, there are three that don't fit into any of the other categories I've covered in other posts. These three are not golds, metallics, jewel tones, or antiques. They are the misfits - the oddballs. That doesn't make them any less useful. It just makes them unique.

Ebony

Ebony is a deep, inky black with just a bit a medium luster. It comes through a little gray in the photograph, but that is just a trick of the lighting and the reflective nature of Rub 'n Buff. I recommend a second coat of the Ebony for a deep, solid black. On the wooden test block, it wound up a little uneven, as you can see in the photo. Little known fact: 'true' ebony is the wood of any of several species of trees, the most common being species found in India, Sri Lanka, and western Africa. It is very dense, and it can be polished to a high shine.

Pearl Blue

Pearl Blue is an interesting shade of light blue with a high luster. I'm not sure where the 'pearl' comes from. Pearls can be blue in the right conditions - impurities in the water can make pearls almost any color of the rainbow. They aren't very common, though, so you may never have actually seen one. Pearl Blue Rub 'n Buff can look like pewter or silver in the right light - it looks more blue the less light you have shining on it. Little known fact: pearls that are any other color than white or black are so rare and so hard to match in color that a long strand of blue pearls (or any other color) is very valuable.

Turquoise

Turquoise is a naturally occurring mineral that is a mix of copper and aluminum. In its purest form, it can be very valuable. It is, however, relatively fragile, being only slightly harder than common window glass. Turquoise Rub 'n Buff is very thick and opaque with a varying, almost cloud-like, light blue-green color. It has a relatively low luster with an unpolished, stone-like look. Little known fact: turquoise has been highly valued around the world for thousands of years, but it has lost value recently as high-quality synthetics have been introduced.

These three wild card varieties of Rub 'n Buff round out the line-up for this first pass through the spectrum on the Supplies On Demand Product Feature Blog. Look for future series where we try out all 17 colors on plastic and metal to see how the different surfaces take the different colors.