What a Difference a Glaze Makes – Tips and Tricks

Using glaze on painted furniture takes detail and color to an entirely new level of awesome and interest. It’s my favorite step in the process of finishing and styling. Learn some tips and tricks of using glaze here including how to make your own glaze. You’ll see why it’s so awesome by looking at these before and after photo’s of my latest piece, this foyer cabinet. See it in person at Westside Furniture.

Glazing Tricks

There are many tutorials how to to glaze. It’s an easy process of brushing on a dark glaze (this one is black) then wiping it off to achieve the desired shadowing and color change. But . . . there are some things I’ve experienced and learned along the way.

Cheesecloth Rag – is best because it removes some glaze but leaves some whereas a cloth rag takes too much off at one time.

Keep a Water Spray Bottle Nearby – to help finesse and blend glaze. After dry ragging, spritz (not wet just slightly damp) the rag or a blending brush to remove a bit more and blend glaze especially in the panel center or on detail high points.

Make Your Own Glaze Product – the wonderful glazes sold by professional furniture paint product lines are great to work with, however, they are priced super high. FloeTrol is my best friend for saving some money here. Mix 1 part any paint color (latex or acrylic) with 2 parts FloeTrol. Once you use it a few times, try adding more or less FloeTrol for desired translucency.

Should I Top Coat Over Glaze? – some painters don’t. The DIY glaze stay’s put after it’s cured a couple days but will come off slightly when top-coated. Glaze has a sealing property to it already. I prefer to top coat when selling a piece to avoid any chance a user will take soap and water to the piece to clean it later.

Use Glaze to Dry Brush Stencil – I love it!

Use Water Spritz to Glaze Large Area like a table top – It finally worked after many attempts to glaze a large table top. I persisted to find a method that did not leave visible brush stroke rows as the glaze was applied and removed. Spritzing the table top with water first THEN applying the glaze bought me the time I needed for a one step brush on wipe off process.

Corners, Grooves and Crevices – are places to brush in and leave the glaze. Wipe off high points of wood details and carvings for an instant antique effect and dimension.