Many of us are likely to be participating in Dry January this year, where for the duration of one month, a person chooses to abstain from all alcoholic drinks. There are many wonderful health benefits to ditching the drink for any amount of time, whether it’s for health reasons or to simply test self-discipline and explore alternative lifestyle habits. One habit that we at Bluestreak Crystals have come to appreciate is while all that glass wear is sitting dormant, it’s a perfect time to upgrade them with Preciosa Crystals!
Glass is one of the most challenging surfaces to embellish to a high standard, this is because the transparency of the glass means there is nowhere to hide mistakes. The shiny surface along with the need to be waterproof, also means that only certain glues are up to the task. There are however, a few tricks and tools that will maximise your chances of creating an embellishment with Preciosa Crystals that you’ll be proud to show to your friends and family.
First ensure the glass is completely clean and if the project aims for full crystal coverage, we recommend gently sanding the surface, to create a rough key for the glue to grip to. If you are sanding glass we strongly advise wearing protective gloves / mask / eye protection and do this stage at a location where, if the glass breaks, it can be easily cleaned up.
Glass requires glue that will set clear, strong and waterproof and for this we recommend resin glues such as E6000 Plus and CG 500. Both glues have drying times that exceed 20 minutes so on a 3-dimensional shape we advise working in small sections and monitoring the crystals while the glue dries to minimise the risk of crystals slipping.
The final challenge is avoiding messy glue lines, smudges, drips etc and the best way to control the glue is by using the Crystal FX glue syringe. Both resin glues can be loaded into the syringe and applying gentle pressure will give you just enough glue for the task.