Glazing liquid serves to boost versatility of paint

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/01/2004 (7967 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ROLLING on a few coats of paint is all you need to transform the look, feel and style of any room.

Paint is an opaque medium that forms a skin on top of the surface, and covers up what is underneath. (Certain stains and knotholes do need to be sealed first or they will bleed through.) The better the paint quality, the better the coverage.

You can purchase paint in hundreds of colours, probably too many colours for most of us to cope with, and its cost and availability makes it an indispensable tool for any decorating budget.

So, paint on its own is mighty powerful stuff.

Glazing liquid, or glaze, has two properties that boost the versatility of paint. When glazing liquid is mixed with paint, the paint becomes translucent. This means that when you apply a coloured glaze (paint glaze mix) over a plain paint base coat, the base coat colour is able to shine through the coloured glaze, producing layers of the colour. For example, if you apply a blue coloured glaze over a cream base coat, the effect will be of many shades of blue. The otherwise flat colour now has dimension.

The second property is most important for paint effects that require moving the paint around. Glazing liquid has an extender in it that prolongs the time it takes for the paint to dry.

Colourwashing is one of my favourite paint effects that uses glazing liquid. For the bathroom walls seen here, I wanted the striking blue of the South Seas, but flat paint would have been too harsh. I combined one part latex paint to two parts water-based glazing liquid and a little water to give the coloured glaze the consistency of cream. I rubbed the glaze over a white base coat using a rag, just as you would if you were washing the wall.

When colourwashing, work in sections of about three feet by three feet, manipulate the paint until you have created the desired effect and then move to the next section. Without the extended drying time of the glaze, the paint will dry before you have had a chance to finish, and you will get lap lines around each section. If you find that the coloured glaze is beginning to dry before you get to it, roll on some clear glazing liquid to open up the paint again.

A few notes to keep in mind. Choose a satin sheen for the base coat as the glaze will move more easily over a slippery surface. The last coat that you apply to your wall will determine the sheen of the finish. You can buy glazing liquid in both satin and gloss sheens. For colourwashing, use the satin sheen. But if you were working on a faux marble effect you would want to use a glossy glaze or apply a gloss varnish in order to get the depth and sheen of real marble.

Broken paint effects such as colourwashing not only look wonderful, but can solve some common decorating dilemmas. One reader has asked me what she can do to cover up the very red wall in her hall.

The red paint has not completely covered the white underneath and doesn’t look good. She can go either lighter or darker with a red-coloured glaze and colourwash over the base coat. The shading will look gorgeous and the uneven base coat will be part of the overall effect. Glaze also makes a paint finish more durable, which is a bonus in high traffic areas such as halls and stairways.

The Painted House column is produced by Debbie Travis and Barbara Dingle. Please e-mail your questions to askdebbie@painted-house.com. Check out Debbie’s website www.painted-house.com. and watch Debbie Travis’ Painted House on W, and Debbie Travis’ Facelift on HGTV. For more ideas look for Debbie’s newest books, Kids’ Rooms and Bedrooms.