Acrylic lacquer sticks due to the plasticizer. What to do if the varnish sticks. Varnishing - the last stage of decoupage

Or what distinguishes the work of a professional.

Beginners in decoupage make, as a rule, a lot of mistakes that can be avoided.

In most cases, after reading the first article or a decoupage master class, you want to immediately get down to business. And only with experience and practice mastery comes. After the first work, you see that something is wrong, but it is impossible to understand what exactly. The more works we decorate, the more beautiful and professional they become. We read articles, study master classes, practice, make mistakes, correct them, and then we get closer to the ideal.

In this thread, we will talk about some of the most common mistakes.

1. Unprimed surface.

The surface for decoration must be carefully primed. This is done in order to avoid unnecessary roughness at the initial stage of the work.

Let's consider two options.

Tree. How to prepare a wooden surface?

First, we skin. I sand twice with #180 or #250 sandpaper. If there are knots, holes or other irregularities, they must be repaired with wood putty. After the putty is completely dry, it needs to be sanded again, but with fine sandpaper #800 or #1000. Then cover with soil. For wooden surfaces, this can be Tahir or Sonnet primer. For canvas or wood. And you can prepare the soil yourself. To do this, mix PVA glue, white acrylic paint and water in a ratio of 1: 1: 3. If in your opinion the surface is uneven, then after priming and drying it needs to be sanded and primed a second time. A smooth primed surface looks better and the napkin lays down more evenly.

Glass. How to prepare?

In fact, for glass, metal and plastic, the preparation is the same. Those materials that are used for one, or specially produced for one, can be used for the other.

So to begin with, the glass must be degreased. It can be a simple detergent from the kitchen, or it can be alcohol or building white spirit. Next, you need to use a special primer. For example, Tikkurila Otex or Kudo primer or car primer. Automotive clear primer is quite rare, but tinted primer is available in almost all markets. Therefore, with direct decoupage of the surface, it is quite suitable. For example, when decoupage bottles of champagne or direct decoupage plates.

But with reverse decoupage, of course, we need only a transparent primer. In this case, it is better for beginners to use aerosol. It lays down more evenly and does not flow.

It doesn't matter if you don't have glass primer. The surface can be sanded. And then acrylic paint will cling to it better. But you need to remember that it is still better to use soil. So more reliable.

2. The napkin is glued to a bright background.

When decoupage with a napkin, it needs to be glued only on a white background. Then the napkin will not lose its brightness. If you stick a napkin on a colored background or a plain bright one (yellow, white, red), it will lose its contrast and beauty, and you will simply ruin your work.

Let's not talk about the fact that the napkin needs to be glued without folds. This is stipulated in all master classes. The method of gluing napkins is also very much. This is a separate topic for discussion.

In this work, I probably made all the most common mistakes. Of course, I like the work, or it’s better to say that I have “special” feelings for her, because she is the first. But, putting your hand on your heart, I must say it was done completely unprofessionally.

Poorly primed surface. The napkin is glued to a bright background. And varnish, unsanded and uneven. In general, all the most common mistakes.

3. Painting immediately on a napkin.

After the napkin is glued, we need a painting. And here we are again making a mistake. Before painting, our evenly glued napkin needs to be varnished. Two layers are better. Then, in case of an error in the drawing, they can be easily corrected. Easy to wipe off, even rinse with water. And your napkin will not be damaged.

4. After varnishing (see item 3), it is advisable to sand the edges of the napkin (but only very carefully!) With fine sandpaper. Then the edges will be smoothed and they will be less noticeable. And as a result, we need less finishing coatings with varnish.

6. During reverse decoupage, the glued napkin after varnish must be covered with white acrylic paint. Emphasize its brightness and beauty, otherwise it will be lost on a colored background.

7. Too bright painting. Drawing must be done very carefully. Do not take bright colors. Better pastel colors. It is necessary to choose the color that is as close as possible to the motive and gradually make it lighter or darker towards the edges, while carefully blending.

8. Not enough finishing varnish. The final (final) varnish of the work must be covered until it becomes completely even. To do this, you need to cover with three layers of varnish, then sand it, then again cover it with three layers and again skin it, and so on until the work becomes perfectly even. Touch and light. Such work looks finished and professional.

Sometimes the number of layers of varnish can reach up to 100.

Of course, this method is not suitable for volumetric elements. When, for example, putty and stencil are used, when we want to get special three-dimensional elements.

Podri scoop background in decoupage

The very initial stage, as always, is to take the workpiece, prime it well and cover it with white acrylic paint. Attach the napkin.

We look narrowly at what colors prevail on our napkin. At this stage, we do not need to get the color that is as similar in tone as possible. I mix gray with white and tint the top background (where it's darker) with this color.

I mix the bottom background lighter.

In general, I have a gray tone on the napkin with a slight hint of yellow, so I add this color.

Here's how I managed to tint.

Next, I add white and bright orange to my existing paints to get the color of the table. The rest of the colors are also trying to pick up as accurately as possible. I draw its continuation. Consider perspective and shadows. Those. near objects are larger - accordingly, our table looks a little like a trapezoid. This should not be conspicuous, otherwise it looks unnatural. You just need to look closely at the shadows - they are already on the napkin. Add shadows to our motif.

I like the technique of drawing in painting when strokes are visible. Therefore, when painting, I stick to this whenever possible.

Here's what I got.

Varnishing is the last stage of decoupage.

This last step in decoupage is perhaps the most important. Not only the appearance of your work depends on it, but also the possibility of its further exploitation. In some cases, this is extremely important: when it comes to, for example, tea houses, caskets or notebooks. After all, you must agree that these items must be resistant to abrasion.

When we first learn about decoupage, our hands “itch” rather to try it and we are in a hurry to purchase materials. In most cases, novice needlewomen purchase cheaper materials. And this is also correct. After all, we do not know in advance whether we will like this technique at all. And the farther ... In general, only our imagination limits us further. I would like to try different techniques, application possibilities, specific features of different manufacturers, but at the same time, favorite companies and compositions appear, which we remain unchanged.

Why lacquer?

When decoupage, we first varnish products to give them a finished look. This way we hide all the irregularities. In this case, the number of layers of varnish can reach up to 50-60. Between this, it is necessary to sand the surface. If your work is done very well and there are no wrinkles, if you use napkins, it is enough for you to cover 3 times. After the first layer, it is desirable to sand and that's it. This is more applicable to experienced decoupagers. If you are just starting out with this technique, then varnishing is your opportunity to correct flaws in your work.

And, of course, protection. We protect our surface from abrasions and scratches. Of course, for wooden blanks, manufacturers usually use resistant types of trees and solid parts so that they do not dry out and change shape. But if you use a blank made of pressed cardboard or fiberboard, acrylic paints can change colors, fade in the sun, or if moisture gets in, the work will dry out altogether.

Brief information about varnish.

Lacquer is a liquid capable of producing a transparent, shiny film after drying in a thin layer.

Varnishes are solutions of solids in liquids that can either evaporate or dry out; solid substances are various resins, and ethyl (wine) and methyl (wood) alcohols, essential and vegetable drying oils serve as solvent liquids. The resin solution applied to the surface to be varnished dries, leaving a thin, transparent and shiny film (in practice called varnishing), the properties and qualities of which determine the merits of the varnish taken.

In foreign languages, the words fr. lake, German lask means paint obtained by precipitation of organic colorful pigments with metal salts. Such paints in Russian are called bakans, and the Russian word "lacquer", as a designation for a liquid with the above properties, is translated in Western Europe by the words English. varnish, Firniss, fr. vernis. Extract from Wikipedia.

Decoupage varnishes are divided into two types:

• Finishing varnish - this is the name of the varnish, which is covered at the end of work on the product.
• Craquelure varnish - a varnish for giving products a decorative look, in most cases for aging.

There are a lot of manufacturers of both those and other varnishes. As a rule, in one line of a certain manufacturer there are both finishing varnishes, they can be glossy and matte, as well as varnishes for craquelure. Sometimes, when using craquelure varnishes, the first step of craquelure can serve as a finish. However, it is important to apply it correctly.

If you are interested in craquelure varnishes, then separate articles on our website are devoted to individual companies and their features. We will talk about finishing varnishes later in this article.

To save money, you can use construction varnishes. There is nothing to even say about comparing prices with a special varnish for decoupage. The difference is colossal. More volume. But no one guarantees the durability of your product. Also, this varnish can be very sticky.

In order to get a guarantee for the varnish, you need to buy special varnishes for decoupage. They give a durable, abrasion and scratch resistant film. Another important feature of them is that they lie on the surface very evenly, without streaks and streaks. And with their relative high cost, you save your time and effort by not spending them on an infinite number of layers.

But in this case, there are also disadvantages. Sometimes even one manufacturer changes its quality by changing something in the composition. As they say, everything is known by trial and error.

Experienced needlewomen choose the best with a price-quality ratio. So, they can use special building varnishes, only guaranteed companies, mainly from Germany and other European countries. After all, they are responsible for their quality, with the correct application of varnish.

What are the problems with varnish?

1. Varnish turns yellow. This means that the varnish is based on a patina. This must be taken into account, because sometimes it will only work to give an old look. But if we want to keep the white color of the product, it will spoil the work.

2. The varnish rolls off. This can happen if you use different varnishes. One is water based and the other is water based. Often such combinations of varnishes are used to obtain craquelure. Only one layer needs to dry, and then apply the second. Otherwise, the second water layer will simply roll on the first one or there will be gaps, the work can be considered spoiled.

3. The varnish sticks. How many did not dry and time seems to have passed a lot, but the varnish does not stop sticking.

There may be several reasons for this:

• The most common is low-quality varnish. As a rule, these are building varnishes of inexpensive manufacturing companies.
• Another reason may be the purpose of the varnish. For example, if you cover a plastic surface with wood varnish, it will most likely stick.
• It is also possible that you have not sanded the surface well. Poorly sanded surface, rarely sticky. You need to sand well and cover with another layer. This happens extremely rarely.
• Stir the varnish well from the bottom before using it. This, too, can serve you bitterly. Subsequently, the varnish may stick.

Of the building varnishes that are popular with experienced decoupage makers, one can recommend varnish Varatan, Tikurilla Parketti-Yassya, Sinteko, Tikurilla Kiva. According to the absolute majority of needlewomen, they never turn yellow and do not stick, they dry very quickly. Yes, they are more expensive than other building varnishes, but much cheaper if you compare one volume with decoupage varnishes. Otech is ideal both as a primer and as a top coat.

We place here information about varnishes - known and not, well-proven, as well as unsuccessful purchases, so as not to step on the same rake.
Preferably with photos, or at least with the exact name, if possible, indicate the place of purchase.

Lucky

To protect products made of polymer plastic from the external environment, it is desirable to coat them with varnish. In addition, varnished works have additional color depth.
Unfortunately, not every varnish can be used for coating, some simply do not dry on plastic, others, although they dry, begin to stick after a while.

What varnishes should not be used?
1. Conventional nail polishes - they have a completely different formula and can start to stick after a while.
2. Hair sprays - they are not waterproof, in addition, dust likes to settle on them.
3. Acrylic varnishes for needlework and universal, which are sold in stationery and needlework stores - they often do not dry on plastic. A typical example is Hobby-Line.

What varnishes are guaranteed to be suitable for polymer plastic?
1. Specialized, from polymer plastics manufacturers
from the manufacturer Sculpey water-based (left glossy, right - matte)
to photo hosting → to photo hosting →
from the manufacturer Fimo water-based (left) and mineral-based (center and right)

2. Acrylic water-based wood flooring. Often they also write "polyurethane-acrylic" on the banks.
Example - Varathane Crystal Clear Waterborne- water-based floor treatment, transparent, no yellowing, stable, high strength, non-toxic. It happens - glossy / matte / semi-gloss.

If it is not possible to buy Varathane, you can look at the hardware store for any other similar coating for wooden floors. The main thing - pay attention to the composition of the varnish was not latex- He is not friendly with polymer clay.

What to do if you still bought the "wrong" varnish, and it started to stick?
You can try to bake the product in the oven at a temperature of 110-130 degrees for 10-15 minutes if the varnish was water-based.
If this does not help and the product is still sticky, then you need to wipe off the layer of sticky varnish with acetone, rinse with soap and water, dry and apply a new layer of the "correct" varnish.

Some subtleties
You can often hear that even good varnishes begin to stick, peel off with a film or chip off.
What could be the reason?
1. The product was not baked for enough time, the plastic did not completely polymerize and the plasticizer reacted with the varnish. To eliminate this reason, you need to bake the product, you can even without removing the layer of varnish (if it is a water-based varnish).
2. There was too much plasticizer in the plastic and a thin oily film formed on the surface of the product after baking, which interferes with the firm contact of the plastic surface with the varnish. St. Petersburg plastic art possesses this property to the highest degree. What to do? - before applying varnish, wipe the surface of the product with alcohol or wash with soap and water, and be sure to dry well before applying varnish. By the way, a fatty film can also appear from frequent contact of the baked product with your hands, especially if you have worked with raw plastic before.
3. The first coat of varnish was not dry enough before applying the next one. Some polishes feel dry within 10-15 minutes of application, in fact, many polishes take several hours to fully dry.

Here's what else she wrote about varnishes Tin_Liva:

"Key words for a suitable plastic varnish:
for wood(interior work) or one-component parquet varnish(you can hang yourself with two components)
1. on one basis
2. polyurethane
3. product type acrylic "

"About the varnish for plastics. At first, of course, I bought a special water-based varnish for Fimo, produced by Faber, but it greatly disappointed me. The varnish peels off even if you only diligently wear beads, and even if you go to the shower with them .... then I searched on the Internet for advice on what and how to bend plastic. The West has been dealing with plastic for at least twenty years and have had time to practice in this matter. They advise coating plastic with varnish (not even varnish, but a finish coat) for wood, water-based polyurethane. For other solvents can do not chemically react with plastic, i.e. acetone, nitro varnish, nail polish (except acrylic, but it is terribly expensive) is not suitable
Everyone recommends Varathane - a water based polyurethane finish (not varnish, polish or floor wax) that works very well with wood, paper, fabric, etc, including polymer clay! This acrylic product has proven to be compatible with plastic brands including Scalpi, Premo, FIMO, Cernit and others. By the way, you can buy it in Moscow in the Arlum database. Sold in glossy, matte and semi-gloss. this is the best polish. I had to order from America
but in principle, you can buy any varnish for wood if it is 1. polyurethane 2. water-based 3. with a filter of ultraviolet rays so that it does not turn yellow. there are quite a few of them, but as a rule they are sold in rather big jars, however, we bought the Swedish varnish Synteko (parketniy) and chipped into a jar and then poured into smaller jars.
the varnish itself looks like water with milk, with a slight smell, but when it dries it becomes transparent. it is better not to throw the product into the water for a couple of weeks, then you can even swim with it in the sea, the varnish does not peel off
here are links about Varathane in Russian.

Many craftsmen are faced with an annoying nuisance: after a decent period of time, the varnish applied to the products continues to remain sticky. It seems that there is no salvation, and the little thing made with love turned out to be hopelessly ruined. What can you do with sticky polymer clay?

What to do if the varnish sticks

It is not easy to say exactly what caused the current situation. Here are some of the most likely prerequisites:

1. unsuitable varnish that reacts with the material of the product;
2. insufficiently well-conducted skinning of the surface;
3. violation of technology: for example, the use of unmixed varnish.

Sculpting from polymer clay (plastics) - what to do if the varnish sticks

A particularly capricious material is baked. Being not baked well enough, it begins to react actively upon contact with varnish. One of the manifestations of contact is stickiness. Moreover, it is not easy to determine this in advance: it may seem that a bead or some other element made of plastic has successfully passed the necessary heat treatment, but in fact it remained underbaked. Salvation here can be only one: you have to send the product for re-baking. Ten to fifteen minutes at 120 degrees will be enough to eliminate stickiness.

Other materials successfully interact with almost all varnishes, including even ordinary parquet. Exceptions are extremely rare and usually come with two other reasons. That is why the application of paints and varnishes should be treated as carefully as possible. As practice shows, an error at this stage can turn into a lot of trouble, including stickiness.

But if the wrong step has already been taken, the varnish has been applied and does not want to dry out in any way, there are several tricks to correct the situation.

If the thing you made is smooth enough, and its relief is devoid of arbitrarily sharp changes, you can try to remove the sticky coating with a small piece of fine. Water-based varnish is even easier to remove: just add a little lemon or vinegar to the water, thereby creating an acidic environment, and immerse the product in this composition. After a few hours, the coating will crack, and it will not be difficult to remove it.

The most effective, but also the most risky way to get rid of mineral varnish is to wipe it off with a solvent specially designed for this purpose. You should be careful: some materials deteriorate from contact with such aggressive chemistry!

A new layer of varnish, applied with all the features of the technology, is recommended to be sent to dry in the open air. It will be useful if it stays there longer than suggested on the label.

If these measures were powerless, it becomes obvious that the conflict between the material and the varnish was the cause of what was happening. You will have to replace the tool with another one. Before acquiring a new one, so that the chosen varnish does not bring new disorders, it will be useful to read thematic forums where masters share their experience.

I would like to note another fairly popular method to get rid of stickiness. Its supporters suggest not to spend extra effort and simply apply another layer to the product, but of a different, guaranteed suitable varnish. The option is not bad, but it will not be superfluous to first check how these two varnishes react to each other.

As you can see, applying a top coat is a rather complicated and serious process. All those who treat this procedure with disdain, considering it the final touch that completes the composition, which he cannot spoil in any way, are severely mistaken. A product made of polymer clay must be perfect to the smallest detail, and therefore accuracy should be shown at all stages of its manufacture.

Mistakes when applying finishing varnish Applying a protective varnish coating is no less important step in decorating than surface preparation, decoupage or acrylic painting. First of all, acrylic varnish is applied to protect the finished work from external influences, which is extremely important for the further use of the product. Many novice decorators neglect this stage and watch with regret as the result of their painstaking work soon loses its attractive appearance. It is thanks to the long process of multi-layer varnishing that the work is given a "factory" look. For example, decoupage masters apply about 50 layers of varnish to a decorated product, achieving a perfectly smooth surface. The process of applying the finish coating requires accuracy and strict adherence to the recommendations. Knowing the secrets of working with a protective varnish, you can avoid the mistakes that beginners make. So, let's look at the most common problems that arise when varnishing. 1. Sticky surface - As a rule, a sticky surface after the varnish has dried is formed due to not following the recommendations for mandatory intermediate drying between layers. Before applying each new layer, make sure that the varnish is completely dry. Often the loss of gloss occurs from the application of new layers of varnish on insufficiently dried previous ones. - When choosing a varnish, you should pay attention to its purpose - do not use wood varnish to cover glass surfaces. Before applying to the finished work, you should first apply the varnish to the sample and test its properties. - To avoid possible adverse effects after the use of building varnishes, it is recommended to use special Decola protective varnishes intended for decorative work. 2. Air bubbles on the surface To prevent the formation of air bubbles, the lacquer jar should not be shaken. Before applying the varnish, it must be carefully and without sudden movements mixed with a stick. If bubbles still appear, then you need to immediately blow on them after application. 3. Yellowness appeared on the surface. In this case, again, there is an incorrect choice of varnish for its intended purpose. Building varnishes often turn yellow and that is why it is always better to check the result on a sample before using the varnish on the finished product. If you need a transparent finish, without yellowing, then you should not choose oil-based varnishes, which are specially used to age products and cause yellowing of the coating. Decola's universal acrylic-based protective varnishes provide a transparent coating, giving the work a glossy/matte effect or a shimmery sequin effect. 4. Lacquer peeling or flaking Protective lacquer may peel due to poorly cured layers of paint, primer or intermediate coats of varnish. Moisture forms between the layers, which causes the varnish to peel off. The main reason for the rolling of the varnish coating is the use of different types of varnishes. 5. The varnish is pressed through If, after the varnish has dried, you find that a mark remains on the surface from pressing with a fingernail, this indicates that the drying time of the layers is not long enough, which ultimately leads to the peeling of the varnish. 6. Brush or foam marks on the surface - Unwanted streaks and marks on the surface are formed after thick varnish is applied. - For high-quality application of varnish, only fine-grained foam rubber is suitable, because. it is this texture that allows you to evenly apply a varnish coating and avoid peeling. When applying varnish with foam rubber, do not press on it, otherwise air bubbles will appear. A little varnish is poured onto the product and spreads over the entire surface with light movements without pressure. - Regardless of the choice of tool for applying varnish, experienced craftsmen recommend grinding and polishing the product with steel fiber (metal wool). It should be borne in mind that when processing with metallic wool, a deep matt effect is obtained even when using a glossy varnish. Therefore, for finishing grinding, if you want to get a glossy surface, you should use materials without metal elements.