Small bottles of craft paint are useful and versatile in just about any craft studio. The FolkArt Multi-Surface Paint can provide even more versatility because you can use them on any of the following surfaces: wood, glass, ceramic, metal, terra cotta, slate, paper, fabric, tin, canvas, tile, paper mache, clay, rigid plastic, concrete, resin (and I’m sure a few that aren’t mentioned).
The manufactures website describes it this way:
“FolkArt Multi-Surface works on almost any surface you can imagine. This means you can buy several colors and use them across several projects, creating coordinating projects without having to buy several different types of paint. You don’t have to worry about the right paint for a particular surface but just one paint, making crafting a no-brainer! Plus, its beautiful satin finish is on-trend right now.”
The opacity is very good but does vary between the colors. The cardinal red is the most transparent and the lime green is the most opaque. On porous surfaces like cloth, paper and cardboard it was easy to obtain even coverage without a problem with brushstrokes. On the shiny surfaces like laminate, glass, ceramic, metal and plastic it was difficult to get even coverage using one coat no matter how evenly I tried to apply the paint or what kind of brush I used.
The surface has a satin finish. You can see this very noticeably on the non-porous surfaces like glass and ceramic. On porous surfaces the paint appears more matte. A foam brush gave me more even coverage on all surfaces. If you use a brush I recommend using a very soft one to cut down on brushstrokes.
I made this rainbow vase as a swatch test for all of the colors in this kit. (It made me think of candy like Lifesavers.) I painted the stripes on the clear glass vase using a wide watercolor brush beginning and ending with Cardinal Red and Apple Red. You can see that I gave up trying to create even looking stripes and just went with the flow of the brush and the personality of the paint.
The website states: “Once properly cured, glass and ceramic projects are top-shelf dishwasher-safe, and fabric projects are safe for the gentle cycle.” The options for curing on glass and ceramic are either wait 21 days to air cure or air dry for one day, then bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Additionally you will need to wait 72 hours before using. Either way you will need to do a little advance planning if you want to cure a painted glass or ceramic project.
I found that this product did cure well enough using the baking method to go through one dishwasher cycle. I suspect that a paint made specifically for ceramic or glass would have greater resilience but I won’t know for sure until I put this project through the dishwasher a few more times. I’ve had excellent results using the Pebeo Vitrea 160 glass paint (which has a beautiful transparency) and the Pebeo Porcelaine 150 markers for ceramics.
Pro: This paint has some serious versatility on its side!
Con: Although this is a very high quality product, it still can be a bit tricky to get even streak free coverage on shiny surfaces with one coat.
This paint is priced slightly higher than standard craft paint at approximately $2.00 per 2 oz bottle.
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Have you put this project thru the dishwasher any more times?
Where do you buy your Pebeo Vitrea 160 glass paint and Pebeo Porcelaine 150 markers?
No, I did not. I don’t use painted items on an everyday basis. Also, You can find Pebeo products on Amazon: http://amzn.to/20p7XwU for the Vitrails and http://amzn.to/1PxGjFW for the markers.
After baking, can you paint over and bake again, like in layers? If so, how many times?
Hmmm. I’m totally not sure. Why wouldn’t you just paint, let it dry, paint over, then heat cure it when you are done? Not sure if there is any benefitting to bake in between. That last step is just to make it dishwasher safe.
Used Plaid Multi-Surface paint. Prepared the glass and air dried for over 21 days and washed off. I have painted on glass in the past and had no problems till recently.
I don’t know what to tell you- did you stir the paint thoroughly? If the paint wasn’t mixed it’s possible that it would not have adhered. Perhaps contact the company….?