I use Varathane, and it's quite a bit thinner, so the brush strokes tend to self level out, which is nice. If you put too thick a layer, it won't dry evenly, and you'll get bubbles and pits. You can sand those, and then do another coat, but it's best to use thin layers. When you dip with Varathane, the piece will drip for quite a while, and you really need to dab those off frequently, or your piece will have a drip dried into the finish. If you need a thick coat of finish, I'd go with UV resin, but the varnish can give you a nice shine. You can bake Varathane, no problem. So sometimes, if I have a surface finish like mica powder, that I need to stay in place and not get all over the rest of a piece, I'll prebake the mica powder portion, varnish that, and then I can work with it further without getting mica powder on any of the rest. I used that technique on these, to keep their white spots nice and clean: boldquestions.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/6-scarab-necklace-set.jpg
Diane Graft: Thank you for the information and the link to how it looks. I would use Varathane as it looks very promising for my work as a finish that is demure but “rich looking.”. Thank you for the information.
@@acolley2891 You also have to place the brush in the soapy water as soon as possible (like when you don't have anything else to varnish in that moment and you're about to leave it to dry between layers), then work the bristles and rinse it out and dry it with a paper towel. By the time you're ready for the next layer your brush will be dry and ready again, personally i like to move the brittle around before dipping it again in varnish because it might have little lints and dust in it while it dried especially after using the paper towel to dry it between washing.
Thanks for this! FYI… if you bake on an old piece of cotton fabric (it won't burn! 😉) you won't get shiny spots on the back.. I learned this from Susan from Turtle Soup Beads. Also, I live in Israel and couldn't get the indoor Verathane gloss so I got the outdoor gloss and it works fine. 😉
Hi ! I did use a polyurethane water based varnish i found in France. The result was nice BUT 😭 id did not pass the "perfume" test. Just melted when I sprayed it like a client might perfume herself while wearing the necklace. I gave up on the gloss varnish idea, but I get really fed up with spending hours with UV resin (there is always a tiny spot here and there that i did not see, or that retraction left after curing)
The problem with dipping is that if you’re doing a bunch of beads this would take forever I tend to just brush my round beads put them on my baking racks and I brush on the vernix I have and it works awesome I don’t see strokes at all just seems like that would be more simple than dipping although with the product you’re using it is thicker
Have you ever tried Polycrylic by MinWax? I've used it on other projects (not clay) and I prefer it because it dries fast and is water based. Urethane products I've used tend to "yellow" over time and Polycrylic doesn't so just wondering if you have ever used it and what your results were. Love your videos!!! Thanks for all you do, you inspire me!!!!
Am I wrong in thinking that a clear polyutherane varnish like Cabot's Cabothane Clear is the same as as Varathane? I have used it with very similar results as you have shown in your tutorial. I use more than one coat usually.
