Help with glass etching

[Kathyhamrick]

I must be doing something really wrong - according to the instructions by Colleen kidder - I am stamping on the glass in versa mark, clear embossing - then putting the armour etch on for 5 minutes - now - where the problem comes - when I try to "scratch" off the embossing under the hot water - everything disappears - the armor etch also - leaving me with a nearly clean glass again!!! Should I leave it on longer? I did try that and got a little more of the etching left - any ideas? Wanting to do this for a hostess group but if I can't get the dumb thing right - no use to show them!

[needsmorestamps!]

Here's some ideas that might work:

First, make removing the armour etch and EP two steps. First run the item under water to remove the cream and after it's gone then try to remove the EP. If you do both at first I'm afraid that the cream will get into places where you don't want it.

Is the cream old? I don't know if it expires or not.

Make sure you are putting the cream on thick. You should not be able to see the EP or the glass. Also, I don't use clear EP but rather colored - makes it easier to see if you have all of it off or not.

Lastly, when you are done dry your item. I've found that the etching doesn't show up as well when it's wet making you think it's not working but once the glass item dries it looks much better.

Good luck!

[paka]

A couple of years ago I did quite a bit of glass etching. I made a lot of glass etched Christmas ornaments as gifts. I actually came across a batch of glass ornaments that WOULD NOT ETCH.

I bought a couple dozen identical flat glass ornaments at Michael's. I was amazed to find that 6 of them would not etch no matter how long I left the etching cream on. There must have been something different about the glass in those 6 ornaments but they didn't look any different.

I ended up taking them back & exchanging them. The new ones seemed fine. It may just be the type of glass you're using. It's just something to consider.

Try etching something else too. Then you can tell if the cream is just too old. I also found that it's OK to leave the cream on a lot longer than they say. It doesn't seem to harm anything.

Hope this helps.

[Adele Heffern]

I just tried it this morning. The instructions on the etching cream say to leave it on for 15 minutes. It worked for me!
Adele

[needsmorestamps!]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paka

A couple of years ago I did quite a bit of glass etching. I made a lot of glass etched Christmas ornaments as gifts. I actually came across a batch of glass ornaments that WOULD NOT ETCH. .

On my bottle it says the etching cream won't work on Pyrex glass. So it makes sense that some glass might not work.

[Kathyhamrick]

Well, it isn't old - unless it was old at the store - the glass pieces that I have tried it on - are two different types from two different stores - so the odds are not high that I managed to get the same type of glass where it wouldn't take the etching - although I suppose it is not entirely out of the question - however, I do think I will try for the 15 minute "leave on" instead of 5 minutes. I actually like the look of just stamping the snowflakes, then clear embossing them and doing nothing else - looks kind of neat and if I could just find those crystals to put inside the containers with some winter looking flowers - it would probably look super. Another day's project. Better stick to getting this mastered first! Thanks for the input.