How to make craquelure on furniture?

• Technology of Crackel on wooden surface
• Technique for beginners
• Use of two-component compounds
• Useful advices
• Use of improvised tools for kracke technique

The "Craquelure" technique is the artificial aging of painted or varnished surfaces of various furniture or interior items - boxes, paintings, vases and other accessories. The name of the technology( "Krake") came from the word "craquelure", which in French means "crack".Despite the fact that this technology originally appeared as a means for the restoration of antique furniture, today it is widely used and during the production of new products to give them a look of antiquity. In this article, we will tell you how to make craquelure on furniture to give it special beauty and charm.

Crader technology on wooden surface

Modern industry produces a lot of different compositions for applying craquelure by own hands and at home. Moreover, some of them can be used not only for the processing of wooden surfaces, but also for applying beautiful "antique" cracks to the surface of plastic and metal objects.

Important! Very original and stylish on the wooden furniture will look decorative additions made of metal, in which decoupage or patina are complemented by craquelure.

Special tools

In order to make crackle cracks, you can purchase both a one-component varnish for craquelure and a two-component formulation, the kit of which is sold in the form of two bottles.

For those who would like to try their hand at restoration works for the first time, it is better to use a special varnish "krakle", which is sold in the stores of household goods under the brands "Ferrario", "Stamperia" or "Havo".

Important! For aging furniture at home, the first option is quite suitable.

Home remedies

Many experienced restoration masters claim that the more natural, aged look, pieces of furniture are obtained if cracks are formed with the help of handy tools - gelatin, egg white, gel for washing. You can also make craquelure with vinegar on the picture or furniture.

Important! If you are a beginner restorer, whatever means you choose, it is best to test it in advance on a small surface.

Technique for beginners

For home craftsmen who do not want to throw away old, but loved furniture, and who want to breathe new life into it, you can offer a restoration technique in a very interesting style of Provence.

Important! Provence - a kind of French style, as it is also called the French Country. Distinctive features of this style are pastel colors, ruches, many fresh flowers, etc.

To perform such restoration work:

• Buy two types of acrylic colors of contrasting colors and a one-component lacquer called "Crackle Country Style", which is intended for joint usewith acrylic paint.

Important! More experienced masters recommend beginners restorers to purchase kits for home creativity, which, as a rule, includes a one-step and protective lacquer varnish, brushes and several jars with acrylic paints of different colors.

• Before making the craquelure on the furniture, the old paintwork should be removed from the surface, after which the surface is primed with acrylic paint( preferably metallic).
• Once the metallized paint base has dried, cover the surface of the product with a varnish varnish.

Important! It should be borne in mind that the width of the cracks will depend on the thickness of the varnish layer. The thicker the layer, the wider the lines of the grid will be.

• After the varnish has completely dried, a second painting layer is applied to it, for which a matte paint is taken. Metallized or glossy for the second coloring will not work, because it does not react with a layer of varnish and spontaneous formation of cracks will not occur.
• While the paint has not dried, its surface is worked with a brush with synthetic pile, with the help of which a grid of cracks is formed. If cracks began to appear during the reaction of matte paint with dried lacquer, then brushing can be avoided, because lack of experience can lead to inaccurate decoration.

Important! After the paint has dried, the surface can be decapitated or simply covered with a layer of clear, protective varnish.

Use of two-component

compounds Make a craquelure on furniture with a better mesh of cracks using two-component varnish:

• In the process of restoring wooden furniture after cleaning the surface from the old coating and grinding, a brush with synthetic pile"Step 1".
• After drying the coat of varnish for 30-40 minutes, a second layer of varnish is applied to it - "Step 2".

Important! From the thickness of the second layer will depend on the decorativeness of the resulting crakel grid.

• In order to speed up the drying process of the second lacquer coating, some masters use a hair dryer, and for a large area - a building hair dryer.
• In order to make the cracks more visible, they are subjected to additional decoration by rubbing into cracks of aluminum powder or bronze powder. In addition, you can use bitumen varnish or conventional oil paint.

Important! After grouting, excess powdery material and paint residues are removed from the surface of the product, for which conventional sunflower oil can be used.

• At the final stage, the thoroughly wiped surface is opened with a finishing lacquer or water based acrylic lacquer.

Useful advices

When using the means and compositions for the artificial creation of craquelure on furniture by one's own hand, the following rules should be observed:

• When buying lacquer, shake the bottle, checking the consistency and transparency of the consistency of the composition.
• To prevent the formation of bubbles on the surface to be decorated and in the varnish layer, the bottle with the working composition must not be shaken before use.
• Restorative work must be carried out in a well-ventilated area, after carrying out a wet cleaning.
• Using single-component formulations, the direction of the cracks will coincide with the direction of movement of the brush.
• When applying contrasting acrylic paints a special decorative effect is obtained when choosing a pale-saturated or light-dark shades.

Use of improvised tools for krakle technique

If you do not want to spend on branded compounds in order to make craquelure on furniture or other items, you can resort to using improvised tools. They certainly will be found in any diligent domestic craftsman or housewife mistress.

The most commonly used in the formation of cracks are:

• Repair and construction polyvinyl acetate or clerical glue.
• Different types of varnishes for furniture.
• Products that have been listed above.

You should also consider some of the recommendations:

• In the process of using PVA glue it is applied with a thick layer on the surface or slightly dried. When you get a layer of adhesive sticky consistency on top of it is applied acrylic paint on a water basis. After it reacts with the glue and the texture of the cracks appears, the product is dried with a building or household hair dryer.
• For aging at home, you can also use the "PF 283" pentaphthalic varnish, which is applied to the product and dried naturally for four hours to form a slightly sticky film. After this, the lacquer coating is covered with a layer of acrylic paint and dried until the appearance of a mesh texture. Further, the surface dries naturally.
• Egg white is applied on a double-layered layer of acrylic paint. After the protein is dried naturally, a contrasting( in relation to the base) acrylic paint is applied to it.
• A similar technique to make craquelure on furniture, using gelatin. Its dignity is considered the possibility of forming lines of mesh, the width of which will depend on the thickness of the gelatin layer.
• Nine percent vinegar solution is applied sponge on dried acrylic paint. Crackle wire is manifested almost instantly.

Novice restorers need to know that the first tests can become unsuccessful, because in the technique of craquelure, skills and work experience that can not be replaced by any sets and proprietary means are very important.