There have been a few versions floating around blogland of how to make mirrors like this:
This was my inspiration:
The issue that I have with most of the tutorials are the mirrors are just completely gone in spots. Theres no color variation, no depth. This is the difference:
This mirror was done using oven cleaner:
See how ALL of the reflective coating is gone?
These are what some done with acid look like:
Much better right?
So heres how to do it.
You will need:
Neoprene Gloves
Jasco Brand Paint and Epoxy Remover
Muratic Acid
Old Shirt or Carpet (So that your mirror doesnt get scratched)
Possibly a scraper.
Ok so first you want to lay your mirrors out face down on a surface that cant be damaged by the paint remover.
PUT ON YOUR GLOVES!!!
Pour some of the psint remover onto the back of the mirror and with your hand gently spread it around so that the entire surface is covered.
Wait 15 minutes.
In an ideal world every mirror would do this:
and that would turn into this:
but it doesnt always work that way. If your paint doesnt bubble then you will have to scrape it off. I use a floor scraper (I think thats what its called) with a razor blade on the end. I hold the mirror still and my husband Macho slowly scrapes the paint off. This will work just as well but it will take a little more work.
Once you have taken the paint off the back take your mirrors somewhere that you can wash them off with the hose (empty lots next door work great or the curb.) Then dry it off. The back will look pretty much like the front of the mirror.
WASH OFF YOUR GLOVES, BUT STILL KEEP THEM ON!
Next you are going to bust out the Muratic acid. If you do not have any at your house you can get it at Home Depot. It is a chemical that they use to clean swimming pools so it will be by that stuff. As far as I know you can only buy it in boxes with (2) 1 gallon jugs. Its about $11.00.
Pour some acid into a spray bottle and spray around the edges of your mirror. IMPORTANT! Each mirror is different! If you have compromised (scratched) the surface of the reflective coating then the acid will work faster so be prepared!
After 10 seconds wash off the acid with your hose and see if it has started to work. If it hasnt put more on and wait a little longer, keep doing this until you get the style that you like. If it has make sure that it is the effect that you want. There was one mirror that I did for this project and the acid worked instantly and pretty much ate all of the reflective coating away (its the small rectangular red one on the left side). If your acid isnt working then you can gently take a piece of sand paper and sand the coating a little. If you do it too much then it will look scratchy and not eaten. Basically dont be afraid to wash the acid off and let it work slowly. You can always take more off but you cant get it back! You will notice after the first time you wash it off what is going to happen. If it comes off in big reflective flakes when you put water on it but didnt seem to be doing anything until you rinsed it off BEWARE it will be gone extremely fast. If you can start to see it eating away at the coating before you rinse it but it hasnt made it through all of it let it sit a little longer and you will get a mirror with more color variation.
This is a mirror that the acid slowly ate away. You can see parts where the stripes from the stool are starting to show through.
A great way to see what it looks like is to lay it on the grass. You can see the places that are gone really well.
Once you have done this the rest is CAKE!
Use your favorite spray adhesive on the back of the mirror and lay your fabric right side down on top of it. Cut it to shape and put it in your frame.
Hope this makes sense!
Feel free to leave a comment or email me with any questions!
Mandi is the best partner ever! See why else I love her over on her own blog Vintage Revivals!
Total love fest going on with this project! I wondered how it was done. Thanks for sharing.
Love it. I stripped a huge bathroom mirror to look like this (sort of) except I used this Melaleuca product call Sol-U-Mel. It perfectly safe to put on your hands and it stripped the stuff right off… it's pretty expensive though.
I was happy how it came out and was putting it into a frame when I tripped and stepped on it. ::sniffle:: I still miss that thing, every day I go to check how I look in the mirror, only to remember it's not there anymore.
Anyway… I have a question. How did you put the mirrors together? Are they just hung up near one another or did you attach them to plywood? What's holding them in together?
those are beautiful!!! wow!
very ambitious and looks like so much work, but the end result has to be worth it!
This is super cool! I have no ventilated space to work (condo living) so won't be trying for a while, but it is fun to live vicariously. This project is GORGEOUS!
Jenny
Mandi! Great tutorial! This is something so many people want to learn how to do so thanks for sharing! Love you!
Becca
I am in love with this!
I love it! They're so, so pretty! Thanks so much for the details, I'll be linking.
bah!! what a great idea! and such a thorough post. thanks fo sharing. it looks fab!
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
I was lucky enough to find a mirror that was already "holy" but your post inspired me to actually do something beautiful with it!
http://kidsroomcreations.blogspot.com/2010/12/trash-to-treasure.html
Nice site, nice and easy on the eyes and great content too.