How to Etch Glass With Etching Cream (Easy Vinyl Stencil Method)

1. 1

   Step 1: Weed a Reverse Vinyl Stencil for Glass Etching

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   Cut your design from adhesive vinyl with a Cricut, Silhouette or similar machine. Now weed it backwards. Normally you pull away the background and keep the letters. For etching you pull out the letters and keep the background, because the open spaces are where the cream will frost the glass. A pin pen weeding tool lifts the small pieces out without stretching the vinyl.

   Tip:

   Press any piece that lifts by mistake straight back down before it loses its stick.

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   Used in this stepCricut removable adhesive vinylpin pen weeding tool for vinyl

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2. 2

   Step 2: Check the Border Around the Etching Stencil

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   Hold the finished stencil up and look it over. Every letter and every inside piece, like the middle of an a or e, should be where it belongs. Check the border too. You want at least a quarter inch, and up to half an inch, of vinyl all the way around the design. A thin border lets cream slip onto bare glass and leaves a frosted smudge you cannot undo.

   Tip:

   When you cut, nudge the design in from the corner of the mat to leave room for a border.

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   Used in this stepCricut removable adhesive vinyl

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3. 3

   Step 3: Pick Up the Etching Stencil With Transfer Tape

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   Lay a piece of transfer tape over the stencil and rub it down so every part sticks to the tape. Then peel the tape up slowly at an angle. The stencil comes off the backing in one piece, small inside bits included. If your design has no loose pieces, you can skip the tape and stick the vinyl straight onto the glass.

   Tip:

   Regular strength transfer tape lets go of the vinyl more easily on glass than strong grip tape.

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   Used in this stepMedium tack transfer tape for vinyl

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4. 4

   Step 4: Press the Stencil Onto the Wine Glass, Center First

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   Make sure the glass is clean and dry. Rest it on a folded t-shirt or old hand towel so it cannot roll. Decide where the design should sit, then press the center of the stencil down first. Work slowly out toward the sides. A round glass wants to make the vinyl buckle, so smooth a little at a time rather than pressing the whole piece at once.

   Tip:

   The wet method, a light mist of soapy water under the vinyl, helps on very curved glass.

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   Used in this stepFelt edge vinyl squeegee

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5. 5

   Step 5: Smooth the Vinyl Stencil Flat on the Curved Glass

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   Peel the transfer tape away at a sharp angle, leaving the vinyl on the glass. Now go around every letter with your finger or a squeegee and press the edges flat. The outer corners can wrinkle a little and that is fine. What matters is that the vinyl touching the letters has no gaps or bubbles, or the cream will seep underneath.

   Tip:

   Run a fingernail along every edge right before the cream goes on.

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   Used in this stepFelt edge vinyl squeegee

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6. 6

   Step 6: Dab Glass Etching Cream Over the Stencil

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   Put on gloves. Stir the cream in the jar, then scoop some out with a wooden craft stick. Dab it over the open letters in a thick layer. You are not painting it on in thin strokes. Pile it up so no glass shows through. Stay on top of the stencil and keep the cream off the bare glass outside it.

   Tip:

   A thick layer gives an even frost. Thin spots come out blotchy.

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   Used in this stepArmour Etch glass etching cream 2.8 ozjumbo wooden craft sticks

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7. 7

   Step 7: Let the Etching Cream Sit, Then Pounce It Around

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   Set the glass down and wait. The Armour Etch jar says one to three minutes. Crystal waits about two minutes, then pounces the cream around with the stick to bring fresh cream onto the glass and catch any spot she missed. Then she waits two or three minutes more, about five in total. For a deeper frost, go up to ten minutes, moving the cream every few minutes.

   Tip:

   Pounce straight up and down so you do not push cream under the stencil edges.

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   Used in this stepArmour Etch glass etching cream 2.8 oz

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8. 8

   Step 8: Scrape the Etching Cream Back Into the Jar

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   Do not wash the cream down the drain. Scrape it off the glass with the craft stick and put it back in the jar. It still works, so one small jar lasts a long time. Get off as much as you can, then wipe the last bits away with a damp paper towel and throw the towel out.

   Tip:

   Use paper towels, not your dish towels, for anything that touched the cream.

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   Used in this stepArmour Etch glass etching cream 2.8 ozjumbo wooden craft sticks

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9. 9

   Step 9: Rinse and Peel the Stencil Off the Etched Glass

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   Take the glass to the sink and rinse it well with soapy running water while the stencil is still on. Only then peel the vinyl away, under the water if you can. Pick out small inside pieces with your weeding tool. Under running water the stencil slides off easily and no cream touches your hands.

   Tip:

   Keep your gloves on until every trace of cream is rinsed away.

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   Used in this steppin pen weeding tool for vinyl

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10. 10

    Step 10: Wash and Buff the Etched Wine Glass

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    Give the glass one more wash with soap and water, then dry it and buff it with a paper towel. The frosted design shows up clearly once the glass is dry. It is permanent and safe in the dishwasher. Make a whole set at once: the stencil step takes the longest, and every glass etches in the same five minutes.

    Tip:

    Hold the glass against a dark background to check the frost is even.

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