It's Alive!!!

It's ALIVE!!!!! It's ALIVE!!!

I feel like Dr. Frankenstein today after bringing 5 tins of Gilders Paste back to life. Late last year my friend Claudia from CalliopesAttic, a great vintage findings shop on Etsy, sent me her old tins of Gilders Paste because after trying them she decided that she likes other patina techniques better. She said she was embarrassed to send them to me after opening them and seeing that they'd dried out, but I convinced her that for playing and learning, they'd be just fine.

Before

I have to say that they smell a lot like shoe polish. As you can see, they were in various stages of dryness, from totally dried out to just a little dried out. After searching the web for instructions on reviving Gilders Paste, I ran across directions to add odorless turpenoid and mix to the consistency you want. And guess what? It worked!

From this...

 

To this!

After

See the broken plastic knife? I had to really work that tin to get it back into condition, and the knife paid the price. Poor knife. All for a good cause though. Note: turpenoid is flammable and is toxic if swallowed, so take care when using it and always use it in a well-ventilated area and wash hands thoroughly after using it.

To add the turpenoid, I used a straw by dipping the straw into the liquid and putting my finger over the hole so that I only got small amounts of liquid at a time. I then worked the liquid into the paste and added more until I got the consistency I was trying for.

Next comes the fun part! Using it!!! So I got out some raw brass findings and scrubbed them with a toothbrush using soap and water to make sure that they were clean. Raw brass finding often have oils from the stamping process and your patinas will not adhere to the metal if it isn't clean. Here are the results:

Gilders Paste in Rust

Gilders Paste in Foundry Bronze with Rust accents

What are you working on today?

Happy creating!

~Mad