Lurks....Believe it or not, but that was a thin layer I applied. I believe what happened is that the glue formed a skin layer, and because the latex was non-permeable to air infiltration, the trapped mache' was just never going to dry.

Pennywise...Glad some of this helped. As you can see, we're all learning something new all the time.

Progress note: The starch recipe without glue is drying faster than the glue included recipe, but, it still is taking much longer than the flour only recipe. The glue/starch skull is no harder than the flour only skull. Since the goal of this whole experiment was to produce lots of cheap lightweight skulls, I'm leaning more towards the flour only recipe. I wish I could remember where I got it from to give the author credit. Here it is.>>

Cooked Mache'
3 tbl. spoons of flour
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt

Heat your water and salt,slowly stir in the flour. Stir with a wisk if you have one. Cook simmering for a few minutes till it thickens, remove from heat and let cool,use.