Viscoseal

[po]'s comments about her painting tribulations got me thinking about the difficulties in sealing things off from air. I suggested that oil might be added to the paint, to form a thin air-impermeable layer, but then the problem is that the oil would be hard to remove. The same problem would occur with wine or other drinkables.

The Viscoseal product is a plasticized wax with a lardlike consistency. When hot it is a thick pourable liquid. When cool it thickens to an extremely viscous, slowly flowing solid akin to Silly Putty or pitch. It is a wax, so is lighter than water. If added hot to a container of liquid, it will spread like oil to cover the top. If added cold, the lump will gradually spread to cover the top, just as the same lump placed on the table will gradually flatten out. When cool, the Viscoseal can simply be grabbed and removed as a rubbery disc. Alternatively, wine could be poured out from under the viscoseal, which will gradually flow back to cover the new surface.

Viscoseal can also be used on solids. If you have a piece of cheese or food, a solid piece of Viscoseal can be placed on top. Over the day, it will flow down over the food to form an airtight seal. This can be easily peeled off at a later time.

Viscoseal is nonreactive and nontoxic. No animals were harmed in the making of Viscoseal.