Summary for gold wrinkle paint on glass Discussion
Gold wrinkle paint on glass is discussed as a restoration challenge for old spool cabinet inserts: the original poster wants to recreate the gold wrinkled finish on the back side of glass, but can only make the top surface wrinkle and cannot get the coating to pull away from the glass. Ted Mooney notes that the real issue is matching the uniform texture seen on surviving pieces so replacement glass blends in with the originals. Tom Lahey adds a practical but humorous observation that one could paint a sample and wait a very long time to see how it ages, underscoring that the thread does not provide a proven process. The discussion mainly frames the problem rather than solving it, and suggests the finish is difficult to duplicate exactly on glass.
Does anyone know how to recreate the gold wrinkle finish on the back side of the glass inserts in many old spool cabinets?
While I can get the top surface to wrinkle, I cannot figure out how to get the paint to pull away from the glass and wrinkle.
Any help would be appreciated.
Tom Lahey
hobbyist – Orange Park, Florida
August 17, 2008
A. Hi, Tom. There is a good thread here on do-it-yourself wrinkle paint which may help you: thread 409<.
In one of my favorite books, “Time and Again” by Jack Finney, the protagonist is visiting a museum, looking at the women’s dresses from the time of your spool cabinets, and wondering how the women of those days could possibly have been satisfied with dresses of such dull colors. I confess to having wondered the same thing. His instructor has to disabuse him and me of the conclusion we jumped to when looking at hundred year old fabrics. At the time they were worn those dresses were bright 🙂
Do you have reason to believe the paint was always wrinkled — that it’s not just something that happened from drying out for over a hundred years?
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
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Hi, You raise a valid point….
So the issue really boils down to the fact that many (all that I have seen) have the same gold paint, wrinkled.
So in the few cases where there is glass missing or broken, various owners wish to replace them, and keep the uniform texture….that is the challenge.
I guess I could paint one and wait for about 100 yr and see what happens … (or leave a note for the next owner.)
Tom Lahey
– Orange Park, Florida
This is in response to the crinkle behind the glass lettered fronts on the spool cabinets. The other day I was eating some Chocolate Hershey Kisses and noticed the VERY thin foil they came wrapped in. The Kisses come in gold wrappers. If you CAREFULLY unwrap the foils, VERY fragile stuff, they unfold into 2 1/2 inch squares. You could make a thin cardboard template the same size as the recesses on the front drawers. Then carefully glue the foils to the template. Let everything dry, put into the drawer front recess and put the glass in place. You would probably get a nice replica of the original. I read on a restorers site the original crinkle look was achieved with lead foil. I don’t know if it’s still available due to lead toxicity. So, you might want to give my tip a try! Good luck!
Laurie Bergeron
– Baton Rouge, Louisiana
October 24, 2011
Hi, Laurie.
Hugs (and, uh, Kisses®) for the great idea!
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.