Removing glass paint

Glassprimer™ glass paint is an interesting and versatile medium. You can use multiple coats and application techniques to achieve your desired result. Since glass resists creating a permanent bond with paint, most ordinary paints won’t stick to glass for very long. Factors like humidity, the impermeability of glass and even the paint itself affect how paint sticks to glass. While most paints will dry to the touch in a relatively short amount of time, paints applied to glass won’t “cure.” That is, they never harden enough to make themselves resistant to damage.

A few options for removing glass paint

Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially engineered to cure on glass. Without our special catalyst, the curing process can take as much as a full year. With the catalyst, Glassprimer™ glass paint cures in as little as 24-48 hours.

But that opens up the question – is removing glass paint possible, and how would you do that?

Mistakes happen – and sometimes, you just change your mind about what you want! You can still remove Glassprimer™ glass paint from glass after you’ve applied it to the glass. The trick is to act quickly!

If the paint is still wet, removing glass paint is easy when you use acetone or a standard paint stripping fluid. Once you’ve removed the paint completely, re-prepare the glass surface using isopropyl alcohol. You can then reapply the glass paint to the surface.

If the paint has already cured, you’re on the clock! Glass paint cures in about 1-2 days if you’ve used the Glassprimer™ catalyst. In this case, you’ve got about two weeks to act. Lay the glass on a flat surface or on the ground, paint side up. Pour or spray a commercially available paint stripping formula onto the paint and let the paint stripper stand. The stripping compound will soften the paint and in just a few minutes, you’ll be removing glass paint easily. You can use a hose or pressure washer to fully dislodge the remaining paint from the glass. You can also use a good degreaser to remove the rest of the paint.

Depending upon how long the paint has been on the glass, you may find that removing glass paint can be difficult in spots. You can repeat the stripping process to target these stubborn areas, or you can tackle them with a single-edged razor. Be careful to avoid scratching the glass. Once the paint has been released, you can re-prepare the glass and start fresh!

If the paint has been on the glass for a long time, rather than removing glass paint, you may be better off starting with a fresh piece of glass, since the Glassprimer™ glass paint bond is generally permanent after about two weeks.

If you’d like more information about removing glass paint, please visit us at glasspaint.com.

Photo Credit: Ariel Camilo, via FreeImages.com