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Streaked mirror

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

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megan child
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:46 pm
Location: Country NSW, Australia

Streaked mirror

Post by megan child »

I'm not sure why my silvering is so streaky - it looks even worse on the photos. I tried redoing this 3 times each time the mirror came out perfect and looked that way for 3 or 4 weeks then I would notice the streaks

The Process I used- I silvered the mirror as per the instructions I then let it dry at first I waited about an hour before I backed it with the paint that came in the angel gilding kit within a few days the streaks appeared. when the problem first appeared I thought it might be the condensation within the laundry where I created the mirror and left it to dry. In subsequent tries I moved the mirror after silvering it and put it in our lounge room near our wood heater. I also waited longer before backing it. My last try I waited over a week before I backed it. The streaks emerge within 14 days of backing the silver.

I'm not sure what to do from here. please help.

Meg
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Meg
I don't make mistakes, I just have learnings.

:p
Roderick Treece
Posts: 1086
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:04 pm
Location: San deigo Calif
Contact:

Re: Streaked mirror

Post by Roderick Treece »

Meg,
Sorry to hear your having trouble. You have learned an important lesson about mirror, you just don't realize it yet. At times you just don't have any control !
Some reasons could be
Bad backing paint
Water you mixed the tin with
Final rinse water
Taking to long to back to up
Something might have contaminated it before it was backed up
Contaminate in the backup brush

I always blow dry all the water off the mirror right after I mirror the glass. If it's a big order the mirror might go a hour at most without backing. I would try another piece of glass. Try one that you back up with spray shellack and see what happens. Once you figuire it out don't forget what you did on the first problem ones because it looks like a great antique finish.

Send me a bigger photo to check out.

www.customglasssigns.com

Good luck
Roderick
megan child
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:46 pm
Location: Country NSW, Australia

Re: Streaked mirror

Post by megan child »

thanks for thinking it looks good!
:)

I think I've worked out the problem and will being doing a test piece tonight.

I will let you know how it goes.

stay tuned

meg
Meg
I don't make mistakes, I just have learnings.

:p
Sarah King
Posts: 167
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 8:43 pm
Location: Oak Park IL
Contact:

Re: Streaked mirror

Post by Sarah King »

I think that Roderick has it about right. I would certainly check the water you are using and be sure that you are using a new paint brush or roller. The backing paint in your kit is specifically made for silver mirrors so I don't think that is the problem. Drying the mirror next to a wood heater is not a good idea since wood smoke contains all sorts of chemicals that could attack the silver. You can check out how to test the purity of your distilled water at http://angelgilding.com/Water_Purity.html
As a last resort, you can back the mirror with pure shellac before you back it with paint. This does not work well if you are going to cut the glass after you mirror it as the shellac might peel but if you cut the glass first, shellac is always an option.

Please let us know if and how you solve the problem.
Sarah King
AngelGilding.com
megan child
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:46 pm
Location: Country NSW, Australia

Re: Streaked mirror

Post by megan child »

Thanks for all the suggestions,
I went and silvered a new piece of glass with surprising results.

I sectioned the glass into four, I also left the glass piece in the laundry where i created it, I also had the dryer on 2 days after backing it. I did not put it near the fireplace.


1st Quarter - Sarah's mirror backing this has turned out fine I can find no fault with this

2nd Quarter - Sarah's mirror backing and 1 coat of enamel Solver brand (this is my equivalent of One-shot) this was fine similar result as above

3rd Quarter - Asphaltum this turned out brilliant! I can't believe the difference

4th Quarter - Asphaltum and then a coat of Sarah's mirror backing this was great too.

Out of all steps during the above process the change has been that I did not put the mirror near the fireplace I think that Sarah must be right that the fumes from the fire has effected the process.

The test piece proves there's nothing wrong with the paints, the water, or my method. Which makes me feel a bit more confident. phew!

Thanks to everyones suggestions

Meg :D
Meg
I don't make mistakes, I just have learnings.

:p
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