Physical properties of sodium silicate-based substances make them very attractive for commercial/industrial use. Liquids and solids based on sodium silicate and produced by PQ Corporation have a density from 1.6g/cubic cm. to about 1.4 g/cubic cm.
A very big difference between acrylic and oil paint is the drying time. Acrylics dry in a matter of minutes to hours and oils dry in a matter of hours to weeks! This is a huge factor when choosing whether or not to choose oils versus acrylics.
Acrylic artists' paints may be thinned with water and used as washes in the manner of watercolor paints, but the washes are not re-hydratable once dry. For this reason, acrylics do not lend themselves to the color lifting techniques of gum arabic based watercolor paints. Fluorescent acrylic paints lit by UV light.