Transform ordinary objects into exceptional objects with this simple gold leaf effect gilding. Open up the world of gilding to embellish objects, artwork, cards, phones, you name it!
Restoration, antiquing, faux finishing, and book binding are easy with this complete gold leaf set. On the other hand, you can add a bit of Glamorous Gold / Bling to any everyday item and transform it into a special piece of art…
Step-by-step guide to successful gilding:
- Prepare the surface well: Your golden surface will reflect any imperfections, so fill and sand to a perfect finish, then make sure the surface is clean and ready for even foil adhesion.
- Apply Pebeo Gilding Paste to the prepared surface, a water soluble adhesive that has a long tack period during which the sheet can be mounted. Porous surfaces may require more than one coat. Take care to apply Pebeo Gilding Paste gently as any drips and brush strokes will be evident after applying the gold foil! Use water to clean the gold paste from the brush.
- Be careful with loose foil, light cotton gloves help, but you should also have a quiet work space to avoid drafts enveloping the foil.
- Use a very soft squirrel hair paint brush to smooth the brittle foil onto the object
- Overlap the sheets slightly and fill in the gaps with bits of foil to ensure the coverage effects you want.
- Finish by burning (buffing to a shine) the surface with a soft light colored pencil – the gold color shines brightly adding a beautiful rich shine.
Alternatively, you could keep it really simple the first few times you Gild:
- Apply the golden paste on the clean and dry objects and leave it to act for about 15 minutes.
- Place a gold leaf on the object and brush gently with the very soft squirrel hair brush.
- Depending on the shapes of the surface, you may need to use smaller pieces of gold leaf to fill in the gaps.
- Polish with a soft cotton cloth.
- More gold leaf can be applied to cover gaps.
Optionally varnish or patinate on the finished surface to protect or vary the effect. To see examples of each stage of a gilding project, visit the authors’ website.