Floral Acid Mirror by Sweet Pickins
9 Materials
$10.0
15 Minutes
Easy
I paint these old dressers with mirrors often and i wanted another way to make my pieces stand out! Ive seen this idea around, it was pretty popular about 4 years or so ago. Its been on my to-do list since then and i finally gave it a try! Plus anything floral makes me happy :)
See the floral peeking out in the mirror?
1st step is to gather supplies - i ended up only using the paint stripper and the muriatic acid. Be sure to wear solvent resistant gloves and a respirator.
Apply paint stripper to the back of the mirror...
Wipe the mirror with a paper towel to remove the black paint that covers the reflective coating...
Rinse the stripper off in the sink...
Take your spray bottle filled with the muriatic acid and spray all over the mirror. Work fast because its quick! Right after i sprayed the acid, i rinsed it off with water. If you let the acid sit too long, all the reflective coating will come off the glass. Every mirror is obviously going to be a bit different - so maybe experiment in a corner.
After letting the mirror dry, apply a layer of napkins, paper, tissue paper, wrapping paper, fabric, whatever you would like with a layer of Mod Podge - or i used Sweet Pickins Top Coat.
And heres the final look!! You can see that there is still a lot of the mirrored surface left on there...
Heres one i did with printed tissue paper that looks like newspaper print!
To see more pics, visit my website for the full blog post! You can also find me on Facebook (Sweet Pickins Milk Paint and Furniture) where i post lots of other things!!
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Comments
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2 of 83 comments
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Sweet Pickins, this is beautiful
. I etched a lot using muriatic acid as my medium of choice for years. I am laden with arthritis now but still have my desire LOL. Especially during our Long winters! I may have to try this with a little help from my husband! Looking to re vamp a sideboard for our dining room This would be perfect. Lovely share. Loretta in Alaska.
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I must have been in hiding since I never ever heard of this before.. not 4 years ago, not ever! This is one the most beautiful things I've seen in a very long time! I'm a watercolor artist and I love the look of this mirror. I must try this for sure! I can hardly wait!
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Interesting process and result. I have a question on the chest shown with the mirror. Love the distressing of the chest and mirror. Can you give me some instructions or tell me where I should look. Thank you.
Isn't there a more safer eco friendly way better than what your doing?
Did you separate the napkin layers before applying?