The holiday season is now upon us and many crafters have already put their pet project on the back burner and have turned their attention to the creation of gifts for loved ones and perhaps even for a few paying customers. We all want to present our very best work as gifts and paying customers expect top quality work. You choose a project, pick the glass, cut, grind, and foil all the pieces, then finish the assembly with a beautiful solder bead. Now all you need is the perfect patina. You’re not asking for much really. You only want a smooth copper color, not too dark, no blotches, and as shiny as a new penny. (Are new pennies still shiny?) However, as most of us have found out, achieving this desired result is erratic at best. Early in my glass career, I decided that blotchy, darker colored copper patina had an appealing “hand-made antique” look. I would explain to customers that this particular antique finishing technique was a specialty of our studio and there would be no additional charge for it. (I’m not sure how many believed me.)

Still, many crafters have asked me to explain the mysterious technique for a perfect patina. For instance, Peggy from cyberspace writes, “I’m having problems after I solder my project. I wash it two times with fairly warm water and a very good dishwashing liquid, then I wash it with baking soda (which I just recently started using), rinse several more times, and dry very well. Then I apply the patina, wash again, and finally pat dry. The problem is my patina never comes out black. It looks a rusty color which I don’t like. I have replaced my patina, thinking it was too old. I applied the finishing wax, hoping it would bring out a richer black color, but it didn’t work. Tell me, Randy, what is it that I’m doing wrong? Please give me the steps from washing to polishing.’

 It doesn’t end there. Liz from Nova Scotia, Canada writes,

‘What is the proper way of getting a satisfactory result in applying copper patina? I find I always get a light and dark appearance and I’m not pleased with the result. I have tried sanding my work with 0000 steel wool before using copper patina. Should I be rinsing with cold, warm or hot water after washing? I’ve even used neutralizer which is suppose to remove all flux residue. Still, I’m not getting the effect I would like to have. Could you please guide me on a step-by-step solution?’

 Let me remind you that I never really have figured out how to get a perfect “bright shiny” patina and I’m willing to admit I don’t know. Luckily, what I do know is a lot of people in this industry who are willing to let me in on their trade secrets. (I never could keep a secret). Plus, I received a great hint from one of my loyal readers, so I’ll let Victor from Tucson, Arizona tell us his story first:

Then I used ‘Kwik-Clean’ to rinse, clean and wipe dry. I used a doubled over Paper towel saturated in copper patina and rubbed it into the solder. Then, using a really wet sponge, I very quickly washed off the patina and dried with paper towels. Unfortunately, some spots looked good but much looked dark and muddy. Now comes the magic part! I used the same patina soaked paper towel and rubbed over all I had done and Voila! My copper suddenly became bright and clean. All those spots disappeared. I put a layer of finishing compound and polished to a shiny finish.”

Many thanks to Victor for that wonderful success story.

I decided to call my good friend Mervin to ask him this question. Mervin is an expert in this subject due to the fact that he works for one of our industry’s patina manufacturers. He told me something that took me by complete surprise but as it turns out, something Victor inadvertently stumbled onto during his experiment. Mervin said, “NEVER USE WATER to clean your project before or after applying the patina.’ When I asked why, he said, “Most tap water contains trace metals, organics, and other minerals that react with the patina altering the final color, usually resulting in a blotchy, dark, dull finish.” He went on to say, ‘Everybody’s water is different, which explains why some crafters have better results than others, plus the amount and type of trace elements in tap water changes from month to month, which is why you often get different results from one project to the next.” I told Mervin he was brilliant and he blushed (a sort of coppery red color). Then I asked, OK, if I can’t use water, what should I use? He replied that you should use a flux neutralizer. “You should solder for a few minutes, then clean the area with a paper towel soaked in the neutralizing solution. When the project is finished resist the temptation to wash it with water, or any other glass cleaner (apparently they also have chemical -which- will react with the patina), and rub the— - - patina into the solder with a paper towel. Finally, remove the excess patina with the neutralizer soaked towel then buff the copper colored solder with a dry paper towel until you have achieved the desired shine. Do a final cleaning with wax finishing compound to protect your bright copper lines from oxidation.- Mervin said the same process would apply to black patina as well.

So there you have it. Victor was afraid to move his long and narrow window and instead of his normal 11 garden hose water washing,” he used a neutralizer-cleaner. However, when he did use water after he had applied the patina he did get some blotching. This was solved with a second application of patina and a final polish with finishing compound to give it a lasting shine.

Have a great Holiday season. Until next time...