Paint Glitter: Magic Silver

How Paint Glitter differs from normal glitter

Add this glitter to water-based paints of any colour and by magic the glitter appears on the dry paint surface to create a sparkle effect that is not possible with normal glitters.

There are many reasons why normal glitter does not work in paint. In coloured paints glitter gets coated with paint and disappears. In clear paints, glitter lies flat in the thin paint film and looks like dirt specs from some angles. Nobody wants their feature wall your wall looking dirty from some angles. 

Previously the best method to obtain a high-quality sparkling feature wall was to paint a coat of our clear Crystal Sparkle Paint over your colour of choice. Crystal Sparkle Paint works well because the tiny crystals inside the paint are transparent and never appear as dirt specs. But now we have a glitter that you can add to any colour of water-based paint before painting. We say the sparkle appears "by magic" but actually it's "by chemistry". While normal glitter powders get swallowed up by coloured paint and disappear, this glitter forces its way to the surface as the paint dries and creates the required sparkle. 

Properties of this Paint Glitter

Directions

• Only mix this glitter into your topcoat of paint. It will be wasted in your first coat of paint.
• Mix the glitter in by simply stirring the paint as you normally would before use. Stir the paint each time before use as the glitter may settle in thinner paints.
• Apply your paint as normal with a brush or roller.
• The glitter will not be visible in wet paint but as the paint dries you will suddenly see, as if by magic, the glitter appear on the surface.
• A few hours or the day after the paint feels fully dry, move a rough sponge lightly over the paint to expose more glitter that has a little head of un-bonded paint covering its surface, This step will increase the visible sparkle by 3 to 4 times so needs to be done. You do not need to rub hard. 
• Unused paint with glitter mixed in can be stored for some time (up to 2 months) after which the glitter sparkle will start to reduce. 

How much glitter to add to your paint

Add as much as you like. Here are some guidelines:

• 1g glitter per 100ml paint (or 10g glitter per litre of paint) gives an elegant subtle sparkle effect.
• 5g glitter per 100ml paint (or 50g glitter per litre of paint) gives a strong sparkle effect.

Note that the effect is not the same as techniques where chunky glitter is thrown onto wet paint to cover most of the surface. 

The importance of lighting

A sparkle effect is only possibly when light hits the surface directly. Sparkle is very easy to obtain on horizontal surfaces when light shines from above. Vertical walls opposite windows tend to sparkle during the day due to light entering the windows. It is only possible to get a good sparkle on the ceiling if you have a light shining upwards. You can see if your lighting is adequate by sticking any glitter onto a sheet of paper and sticking that to the wall. If that glitter sparkles then our Paint Glitter will sparkle too.