Lol I read something recently where a guy tested a bunch of penetrating oils with a torque wrench and the acetone/ATF mix beat everything except Kroil by like 15%. But here's the thing, he also tested just plain old WD-40 and it was surprisingly close to the fancy stuff for way less money. Makes you wonder how much of the magic is just marketing and a little bit of patience. I've been using that jelly jar mix on my tractor for a year now and it's never let me down. The smell is brutal though, I feel you on the boot thing.

Check out Millcreek Painters. They did our whole main level and the quality was top-notch. The crew was friendly and cleaned up at the end of every day which my wife really appreciated.

@the_ruby you're spot on about fabric first, but I think you might be mixing up what I do with something else. I don't let the material tell me the shape, I let it tell me the weight and how it moves. There is a difference. For me it's all about feeling the fabric in my hands before I even touch the form. I'll hold it up, let it hang, and see how it falls. Then I start draping, but it's really just about understanding the material's personality first.