{"id":1088,"date":"2015-04-14T20:11:12","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T01:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chirphopstudio.com\/?p=1088"},"modified":"2019-07-21T17:36:12","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T22:36:12","slug":"papier-mache-clay-spray-finishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chirphopstudio.com\/?p=1088","title":{"rendered":"Papier Mach\u00e9 Clay – Testing “Clear” Spray Finishes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Papier
Papier mach\u00e9 clay testers for “clear” spray finishes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There have been shelves full of decorative papier mach\u00e9 clay bowls just waiting for the weather to be warm enough to spray a finish on them. The time has finally come!<\/p>\n

To make sure any finish worked well before<\/em> I use it on the bowl that I’ve put time and effort into, some testing seemed like a reasonable idea.<\/p>\n

The spray finishes were some I already had from other projects and wanted to make sure wouldn’t do something funky to the surface, like discolor it or react strangely (bubbles, stickiness, etc.)<\/p>\n

I also have a few bowls with a white painted surface, so I wanted to make sure they’d stay white.<\/p>\n

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What Was Tested<\/h3>\n

The sprays were Krylon UV-Resistant Acrylic Coating in gloss and matte finishes, Rustoleum 2X Ultra Cover Gloss Clear and some Ace Hardware polyurethane spray varnish.<\/p>\n

All but the polyurethane claim to be non-yellowing, but you’ll see that’s a stretch.<\/p>\n

For some reason, I overlooked a can of Krylon “Crystal Clear” (clearer than clear?) in a satin finish, so there’ll be a follow-up to this, and I’m pinning my hopes on it.<\/p>\n

How It Was Tested<\/h3>\n

Uncoated Papier Mach\u00e9 Clay<\/h4>\n

Whenever there are any leftovers from a batch of papier mach\u00e9 clay, I make a test sheet. I spread it on cereal box liner plastic and put more liner plastic on top, pressing a bit to straighten it out as much as possible.<\/p>\n

Then the top liner comes off to dry the sheet. It curls some or gets wavy as it dries, but that’s not an issue for the testing. There were some smaller chips lying around, so I used those, since each finish could be tested individually, without having to mask the others off.<\/p>\n

\"Krylon
Krylon UV-Resistant spray on papier mach\u00e9 clay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Krylon matte finish is fairly indistinguishable from the unfinished dried clay.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to tell if it’s coating at all, at first. That’s perfect, if you want to keep the raw look, but give it some protection from moisture and a little more strength.<\/p>\n

So this gets a thumbs-up for most purposes when you want a matte finish.<\/p>\n

Both the Krylon gloss and Rustoleum finishes were very glossy with two coats. You can compare them in the slideshow below. The gloss doesn’t “read” very well in the photos, but they were equally glossy.<\/p>\n

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