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Summer painting tips for glass paint

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Summer painting tips for glass paint

Summer painting tips for glass paint

There’s no doubt about it – summer rocks! And with summer fast approaching, you may be planning your seasonal home improvement projects. If glass paint is part of your summer home improvement plan – and we at Glassprimer™ certainly hope it is – here are some tips for helping you get the best possible results from your glass paint projects.

Paint like a pro with glass paint

Here are a few tips to help make your summer glass paint plans a success!
Nothing takes the place of surface prep! Don’t cut corners by not doing proper surface preparation for glass paint. Use isopropyl alcohol and fine steel wool (#000). Dry the surface with ordinary paper towels until the surface squeaks. Work in a clean, dry area with good ventilation.

Right time, right temperature! Check the weather before you start painting! Glassprimer™ glass paint is intended to be applied at temperatures above 40° F. That’s not hard to achieve during the summer, but you should watch the dew point, especially if you’re working in the morning. The glass surface should be at least 3° F above the dew point when the glass paint is applied to it.

The drying time for Glassprimer™ glass paint is based on ideal temperature conditions of 75° F at 50% humidity. If the relative humidity is much higher than 50% (or much lower) and the temperature is much higher or lower, the drying time of the paint will be affected. If the relative humidity is super high – 70% or better – you may want to wait until the relative humidity drops a bit to start painting. A large amount of moisture in the air will affect how the solvents dissipate – which affects how the paint dries and cures. The closer you are to the 50% ideal humidity, the better drying results you can expect.

Good things come to those who wait. With glass paint projects, time is of the essence, but that doesn’t mean rushing through each step. Allow each coat the appropriate amount of time to dry, adjusting for variations in temperature and humidity. With spray application, you may need to wait as much as 5 hours between coats. Roller and brush applications aren’t as precisely controlled, so you may need to wait even longer to get a completely dry coat. Do not paint wet paint! You’ll simply increase the drying time. And wait until the paint is cured – typically 24-72 hours – before installing the finished glass paint piece.

If you’d like more information about working with glass paint, check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Petria Follett, via FreeImages.com

Glass paint: hiring it done v DIY

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Glass paint: hiring it done v DIY

Glass paint: hiring it done v DIY

If you don’t have a lot of experience with painting, you may think that a glass paint project is too much to handle. You may be trying to weigh hiring it done v do-it-yourself. Exactly how much work is involved in a glass paint project? What tools are required? How much time will it take?

Glass paint is easy to work with

With the right tools and the right approach to the project, you can easily complete a glass paint project as a DIY job. Beyond that, working with glass paint isn’t really any different than working with any other kind of paint. So what tools do you need and what’s the right approach to the project?

Glass paint will work on any kind of glass. Whether you’re working with tempered glass or plate glass, glass paint will create the same permanent bond with the glass surface. Ordinary glass tends to have a green cast, and the thicker the glass, the more noticeable the green tint will be. Glass isn’t tinted, but iron in the glass creates the color when the glass is manufactured. If a green tint isn’t a bother, then use ordinary glass. If the green tint will be problematic, choose low-iron glass instead. Low iron class is also marketed under the name “Starphire” glass. This glass is made with low-iron components, which minimizes the greenish tint.

With a glass paint project, surface preparation is one key to a successful outcome. Fortunately, the surface preparation for glass paint is easy. Use alcohol, fine grit steel wool and inexpensive paper towels. (Pro tip: don’t use “lint-free” paper towels!) Dry the surface until it’s “squeaky clean.”

Apply glass paint with a good quality mohair roller, brush or preferably a high-volume, low-pressure sprayer. Apply in thin coats, and allow each coat to dry fully before applying the next coat – at least 4 hours. Plan to use between 3 and 8 coats for the best results. You can clean rollers and brushes using acetone. You can also use acetone to clean up small drips, overspray or repair smudges or imperfections on the glass surface.

Once the paint is cured, you can install your glass paint project on any surface using paint-can style mirror mastic, neutral-cure silicone adhesive or double-sided mounting tape. The adhesive will not show through the glass paint project.

Working with glass paint can really be that simple, and the results can really distinguish your home! If you’d like more information about working with glass paint, please check out the rest of our website. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Michael Zimmerman, via FreeImages.com

Creating privacy with frosted glass

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Creating privacy with frosted glass

Creating privacy with frosted glass

In yesterday’s post, we looked at the use of interior doors made of glass, or doors that incorporate glass. Glass paint is a natural decorative medium for glass doors, whether they’re in a commercial or residential setting. Today, we’ll look at ways to use glass paint to create privacy.

Frosted glass on a budget

The great thing about frosted glass as a decorative medium is that you can use it anywhere. Typically, you see frosted glass in the bathroom, but frosted glass can be used in both residential and commercial spaces. It can certainly be used on windows, but it can also be used for purely decorative purposes.

True frosted glass is created by sandblasting ordinary glass, or by etching a glass surface with chemicals. Because the frosting process requires additional, specialized handling, frosted glass is expensive. You can create a frosted effect on window glass using glass paint. The great benefit of using glass paint to create frosted glass is that you can use any color to create the frosted effect. With mechanically produced frosted glass, you have no control over the color of the finished product. When you use glass paint, however, you choose the color you apply to the glass, so you can create frosted effects that aren’t possible with traditional frosted glass.

You can use frosted glass to improve your view. If you have a window that provides an aesthetically unpleasant view, but you also value the light the window provides, you can frost the window using glass paint. You no longer have the unpleasant view, but you still get the benefit of light from the window.

You can also use glass paint to create a frosted effect on a glass-paned room divider. The glass paint will allow you to create translucent panes of glass in any color that can effectively divide a room and provide some privacy.

In a commercial setting, you can use frosted paint to eliminate the distraction of “fishbowl” conference rooms, workspaces or offices. By backpainting the glass with glass paint, you can create a light frosted effect that increases privacy, decreases distractions and still transmits adequate light into the space. Likewise, if you have a conference room that typically overheats due to a southern or western exposure, using glass paint to frost the windows can help make the room more comfortable.

If you’d like more information about working with glass paint to create a frosted glass effect for a fraction of the cost of true frosted glass, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Leszek Soltys, via FreeImages.com

How paint works, and why Glassprimer™ is different

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How paint works, and why Glassprimer™ is different

How paint works, and why Glassprimer™ is different

There’s nothing mysterious about paint; paint has been around for a long time. “Cave paintings” are really paintings; they’re made from a mixture of materials that, when combined, form a crude kind of paint. And given that some cave paintings are 50,000 – 100,000 years old, the paint used by the earliest artists must have been pretty durable. What is paint? What does it contain, and what does ordinary paint tell us about Glassprimer™ glass paint?

Glassprimer™ glass paint is unique

Paint contains three basic elements: color, binder and solvents. The color is what we’re really after when we crack open a can of paint, but the binder and solvent play important roles in how well our paint projects turn out.

Paint colors typically come from a class of chemicals known as salts. As colorants, salts are pretty versatile. They can be transparent, opaque or metallic and control how we perceive light reflecting off of the crystalline structure of the salt. Salts can be combined to create virtually any color.

Salts are solids, so even though they come in some pretty magnificent colors, there’s no good way to transfer the color from the salt to another object if the salt stays in its crystalline form. That’s where the binder comes in. Binder is like a kind of glue. It makes the colored crystals stick to each other, and to some other surface.

If you just mixed the colored salts with the binder, you’d have a mess. The binder’s job is to make things stick together. If you’re trying to spread the binder over a surface, you’re going to be disappointed by the outcome because binders are sticky, not spready. Think about how unpleasant it is to spread white glue on something. The glue doesn’t coat your surface evenly. It pools in some places and is too thin in others. That is exactly what you’d get if you just put binder and color together. You would never get an even coat.

Enter solvents. Solvents dissolve things. The term “solvent” conjures up images of toxic chemicals that burn your skin and eyes, and irritate your lungs. Fortunately, not all solvents are so unkind! Water is a solvent because it can dissolve things. In fact, water is used as a solvent in some paints.

Mix a solvent into the color and binder, and now you have paint! (Incidentally, the same “recipe” works for ink.) The solvent makes the paint and binder easy to spread. It also helps create an even coating of the pigment and binder. When exposed to air, the solvents evaporate, and when they’re gone, they leave behind an even coat (hopefully) of color and binder. The binder cures, and the color is firmly stuck in place.

If you’re trying to paint on glass, an ordinary binder won’t work because it can’t get a good grip on the glass. You can paint on glass, and the paint will dry on the glass, just as it would dry on any other surface. It just won’t stick. The binder can’t interact with the surface of the glass, like it can interact with drywall, wood, masonry and other porous surfaces.

Glassprimer™ glass paint uses nano-scale technology to bond the pigment with the surface of the glass. In the case of Glassprimer™ glass paint, the paint actually modifies the molecular surface of the glass, which allows the paint to bond permanently with the glass. The paint does not simply dry on the glass; it actually becomes part of the glass. This ability to become part of the glass surface is what differentiates glass paint from ordinary paints.

If you’d like more information about working with glass paint, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .
Photo Credit: Darek, via FreeImages.com

Priming for glass paint projects?

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Priming for glass paint projects?

Priming for glass paint projects?

What’s the purpose of a primer and when do you need to apply one? The good news is that for glass paint projects, you don’t need to apply a primer because Glassprimer™ glass paint is a self-priming paint. Even so, here are some things to think about when painting.

The need for priming surfaces when painting

A primer is a specialty paint that’s designed to improve the finished paint project. Surfaces that take paint have natural variations that you may not see with your eyes, but paint will find and react to. Some paintable surfaces, for example, are very porous; others, not so much. Drywall is a good example of a porous surface. The porosity (yes, that’s a word) of drywall may vary between all the sheets of drywall in a room. The more porous pieces of drywall will absorb more paint, and less porous sheets will absorb less.

If you start painting with paint, the drywall will absorb more paint in some spots than in others, and your finish coat will look uneven. Primer is a kind of paint, but it’s less expensive than high quality paint. By starting with primer, the drywall can absorb less expensive primer, leaving more of your high quality paint on the wall.

Glass isn’t a porous surface, so absorption of paint isn’t the issue. With glass, the issue is getting the paint to stick to the glass at all! Ordinary paint won’t stick to glass. It might dry on a glass surface, but because the glass doesn’t absorb paint, the paint won’t stick. Even simple “insults” like handling, humidity, exposure to UV light and contact can damage regular paint on glass.

So how does our paint stick to glass? Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially engineered to bond with the glass surface by changing the glass surface. Nanotechnology, which is unique to our paint creates a truly permanent bond with the glass as the paint cures. This special engineering “primes” the glass as it is applied, and ensures that our paint will bond to glass, plexiglass and other surfaces that typically don’t take paint very well.

If you’d like more information about working with glass paint, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Ove Tøpfer , via FreeImages.com

Glass countertops make a kitchen shine!

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Glass countertops make a kitchen shine!

Glass countertops make a kitchen shine!

If you’re looking for a quick, cost-effective update to your kitchen, consider installing glass countertops. Glass is an excellent material for kitchen duty, because it is resistant to all of the most common kitchen perils – heat, scratching and staining. Glass is also impervious, which means that germs, bacteria and other undesirables won’t be hanging around. You can also decorate your countertops in any color, using Glassprimer™ glass paint.

Glass countertops come in multiple thicknesses

You can use glass countertops to cover all of your working surfaces, or you can use it to highlight just one or two. Glass countertops work well on food preparation islands, or as surface where food is served. Glass countertops are easy to care for and stand up to common household cleaners and disinfectants. Even acidic compounds like tomato juice, vinegar and ammonia won’t harm your glass surface.

You can also say goodbye to food stains and scorch marks because glass countertops can withstand what you throw at them. Thicker glass is also resistant to breakage, which is another big plus in the kitchen! Finally, glass is UV-light resistant so it won’t discolor over time.

You can backpaint your glass countertops with Glassprimer™ glass paint to create an opaque or translucent look in any color you can imagine. You won’t get this kind of versatility from granite, marble or composite resin materials! Glass countertops cost about as much per square foot as granite does, and changing out the surface is easy, if you need or want to do it.

You can also use backlighting on your glass countertops to create a dramatic presentation. That’s something you can’t do with marble, granite or composite materials. Glass can be formed or cut to fit any shape, so you’ve got your toughest angles covered. If the ecology is an important consideration for your decorating plan, glass is among the friendliest of construction materials, since it requires no mining or toxic production processes!

If you’d like more information about decorating glass, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store.

Photo Credit: Anuwat Khamngoen, via FreeImages.com

Low-iron glass and glass paint projects

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Low-iron glass and glass paint projects

Low-iron glass and glass paint projects

If you have ever seen a sheet of glass from the side, you probably noticed that it had a green tint. What is this green tint, where does it come from and how can it affect your glass paint project? “Clear” glass is so obviously green that it’s hard to believe it’s not deliberately tinted. (It’s not!) Understanding where the tint comes from helps to know how it can affect your glass paint project.

Low iron glass eliminates green tint

Ordinary clear glass is made primarily from sand (silica), soda ash and limestone. Some formulations use other “ingredients” to create glasses with different qualities. The silica, soda ash and limestone are heated to temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit! At this temperature, the ingredients liquefy, and glass can be shaped or molded. As it cools to room temperature, the mixture hardens into what we think of as a solid, even though it retains its liquid characteristics.

The high temperatures at which glass is made burn off most impurities, so the mixture seems transparent when it cools. One of the impurities that doesn’t burn off is iron. Iron is often found with limestone – a key component of glass. Iron also readily binds with silica – the other key component of glass. It is this iron that gives glass its green tint. The greater the iron content in the glass, the greener the glass will be.

You may notice the obvious green tint on clear glass when you look at a thick piece of glass. The green tint becomes more noticeable on thicker sheets of glass. You may wonder how this green cast could affect your glass paint project. The truth is that the green tint can be noticeable, even after you’ve applied paint and mounted your backpainted glass.

Low-iron glass is made from low-iron silica and limestone. By eliminating the iron (or at least most of it), glass manufacturers can create a glass that doesn’t have this green tint. Low-iron glass, also known as Starphire™ glass or Ultra-White™ glass. It comes in thicknesses ranging from 1/8″ to 1/2″, and can be used in a variety of applications. If you think the “natural” tint of glass may interfere with your glass paint project, consider using “low-iron” glass instead.

For more information about painting glass with Glassprimer™ glass paint, please check out the rest of the site. To purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store.

Photo Credit: Kerem Yucel, via FreeImages.com

Transparent painted glass – a how-to

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Transparent painted glass – a how-to

Transparent painted glass – a how-to

In the last couple of posts, we’ve looked at opaque and translucent glass, but can you also create transparent painted glass? The brief answer is yes! One of the strengths of glass as a medium is that it’s transparent. Painting the surface will reduce the transparency of the glass, but you can apply color to the glass while still preserving its transparency.

Transparent painted glass effect

If you’re aiming for a stained glass effect, it helps to understand how stained glass is made, and why transparent painted glass can be a cost-effective alternative to true stained glass.

Stained glass is also painted, using special paints. After the glass is painted, it is fired to achieve that transparent appearance. Most often, stained glass artists work in one color at a time, firing the piece after each addition of color. The finished piece could have been fired many times. This method of applying paint and firing is very labor intensive, requires special equipment and materials, and is really time consuming! It also makes true stained glass expensive to buy.

Glassprimer™ offers an alternative to true stained glass, that’s cost effective, uses common materials and produces a similar transparent painted glass result. Best of all, there’s no need to fire the piece, so you don’t need special equipment, either.

By using Glassprimer™ GP083® molecular activator as a surface preparation, you can use urethane paint to achieve a transparent painted glass effect and still get the adhesion properties you need when working with glass as a painting medium.

The Glassprimer™ GP083® molecular activator doesn’t convert the paint into glass paint, but it does sufficiently treat the surface of the glass to create the nanoscale bonding properties paint requires to adhere to the glass.

The surface preparation is the same as it would be when using Glassprimer™ glass paint. Clean the glass thoroughly with rubbing alcohol and #000 grit steel wool until it’s “squeaky clean.” Don’t use lint-free paper towels – just use the cheap kind from the store.

Once the glass surface has been cleaned, spray it with Glassprimer™ GP083® molecular activator and let it sit for 10 seconds. Wipe it off with paper towels and apply a high- quality 2-part urethane paint, such as those from House of Kolor. You’ll get a great transparent painted glass effect without special tools or equipment, and at a fraction of the cost of true stained glass!

Photo Credit: Derek Boggs, via FreeImages.com

Water based glass paint

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Water based glass paint

Water based glass paint

If you’re considering a glass paint project, but you’re turned off by the thought of working with a solvent-based paint, consider working with water based glass paint instead! Glassprimer™ GPWB128 water based series glass paint offers all of the advantages of Glassprimer™ glass paint and the benefits of a water-based paint.

Water based glass paint is kind to the environment

Glassprimer™ glass paint is classified as a low-VOC paint, but Glassprimer™ water-based glass paint is an exceptionally low-odor, non-flammable paint designed specifically to bond permanently with glass. Don’t want to clean up with solvents? Our water based glass paint cleans up with water, so you can say goodbye to strong solvents and paint thinners!

Just as with Glassprimer™ glass paint, we can match any color from any paint manufacturer, so you can work Glassprimer™ water based glass paint into any decorating scheme. It’s also fully self-priming, so the surface preparation for our water based paint is the same as for our solvent-based paint – just clean the glass with alcohol until it’s “squeaky clean” and you’re ready to start painting.

How durable is our water based glass paint? It’s just as tough as our solvent based paint. You’ll still get the same permanent bond with glass that Glassprimer™ glass paint is known for. You can handle water based glass paint after about 4 hours, and it cures in 1-3 days, forming that permanent bond we’re known for. Once the paint is cured, you can drill it, cut it or sand it without worrying about damaging the glass paint. And even though it’s water based, humidity can’t touch it! No peeling, no delaminating, no cracking, no bubbling. Just beautiful backpainted glass for a wide range of applications.

You can mount glass painted with Glassprimer™ water based glass paint with neutral cure silicone glue. You can also use double-sided glazier’s tape that’s rated to support the weight of your project.

If you’d like more information about water based glass paint, please spend some time on our website, or visit our online store.
Photo Credit: M Hansson , via FreeImages.com

Blend paint colors like a pro

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Blend paint colors like a pro

Blend paint colors like a pro

In the last post, we looked at a few ways to blend paint colors by choosing hues that complement each other. In this post, we’ll look at some additional strategies to help you figure out how to blend paint colors when planning your decorating scheme.

Other ways to blend paint colors

Color triad. You can create a color triad when you choose three shades that are 120 degrees apart on the color wheel. This color scheme is an attention-getting combination. If you want to try this approach, consider choosing one color in your palette to be the primary color, and use the remaining two as accent colors. You can get a wider range of color options by varying the saturation of the colors in the palette.

Color square. Similarly to complements and triads, you can create a color square by using four evenly spaced colors on the color wheel. Each color will be 90 degrees apart. You’ll essentially be using two sets of complementary colors. This approach gives you a lot of way to blend paint colors, but it introduces a little wrinkle: you can end up with a palette that contains both warm and cool colors. As with other multi-color paint schemes, you’ll be happiest by choosing one primary color and using the rest of the palette as accents.

Color rectangle. A color rectangle also uses two sets of complementary colors, but they’re not evenly spaced on the color wheel. To create this palette, choose a primary color and its complement. Then choose a color that is 60 degrees away from your primary color and that color’s complement. You’ll be able to extend your options to blend paint colors by varying the saturation of the colors in your basic palette. Balance isn’t the key here – use one primary color and use the rest to create accents.

You won’t get much more by adding more colors to your palette, although you can. If you want to blend paint colors, the key is to remember to balance the colors in your palette with their complements and keep the colors predictably spaced on the color wheel.

If you’d like more information about how you can blend paint colors, or use glass paint in a paint project, please check out the rest of our site. If you’re ready to shop for glass paint, please visit our online store.

Photo Credit: Joerg Rudloff, via FreeImages.com