FAQ

Mirror making is a chemical process. Accuracy is important. If you read the instructions, measure carefully, clean the glass well and complete the steps in the proper sequence, the process will work.

Safe and Responsible

Q. So, how safe are these mirroring chemicals?
A. All of our chemical solutions are no more dangerous than most household cleaners. Use them as carefully. Store them out of the reach of children, pets and other curious visitors. Keep your tools and bottles away from food and drink. If you keep your work area tidy, pay attention, work methodically and clean up when you're done, you'll have no reason to worry about safety.

Q. A Galena mirror is made with lead sulfide. How safe is that?
A. There is, in fact, very little lead in a lead sulfide mirror. If you don't drink it or soak your hands in it, you have nothing to worry about. We do not recommend that you spray the lead mirror solutions. Galena is an old, beautiful name for lead sulfide.

Q. I’ve heard that Silver Strip is pretty toxic. Should I be worried about that?
A. Silver Strip is a powder that you mix with water to make an orange liquid. It removes all types of mirror surfaces. It is very handy but we have decided that it is too toxic to sell. We have replaced it with Silver Remover, Copper Remover and Galena Remover. All of these chemicals are much safer for you and much better for the environment.

Q. I assume that Silver Remover is used to remove silver, so how do I remove gold?
A. You can rub it off with cotton or even with your thumb! The gold mirror coating is not as firmly attached to the glass as silver, copper or galena. Hold the glass only by the edges. Once you have protected the gold layer with silver or with clear lacquer, it is not so delicate.

Q. I have been putting my mirroring run-off waste into empty distilled water bottles. Is there any way I can dispose of it safely?
A. Yes, we had that problem too but we have finally found an EPA approved solution. The clay in our Waste Treatment kits absorbs the heavy metals in the run-off and flocculates to the bottom of the container. Once the heavy metals are attached to the clay, they can be safely and legally placed in the trash. The filtered water can be poured into the public sewer system. We would like to thank Jim Catagnus of CDF Industries for his clever solution to our waste water dilemma.

Cleaning the Glass

Q. How do I know when the glass is clean enough?
A. This is actually quite easy. Pour water on the glass and watch it as it runs off – it should “sheet” off the glass. Any spots that repel the water need to be cleaned again. When you can get a very thin layer of water all over the glass without any blank, dry spots, it's clean. The side you're not going to mirror does not have to be perfectly clean. Don't forget to clean the cutting oil off the edges of the glass.

Q. Why can't I use ammonia or dish soap to clean the glass?
A. Ammonia can redistribute the grease without removing it and dish soap does not rinse clean. Our cleaner is used on sensitive optical instruments because rinses away entirely. It has a detergent to surround the grease and a wetting agent to reduce the surface tension. Mixing the concentrate with hot water makes it work better.

Q. Why do you recommend cerium oxide to polish the glass?
A. Cerium oxide has replaced rouge and whiting as the abrasive of choice for polishing mirrors and telescope lenses because it has a chemical as well as an abrasive action. While the process is not clearly understood, it is thought that the cerium oxide “softens” the glass surface on a molecular level as it polishes. It works best when the slurry is between 95° and 115° F. and has the consistency of milk. (The water from your hot water tap is about 140° F.)

Q. Why do I need to use steam-distilled water?
A. Steam-distilled water is free any of the minerals that contaminate the mirroring chemicals. The quality of the water affects the quality of the mirror. We buy our steam-distilled water at our local grocery store for about $1.00 a gallon. If you can't find bottled distilled water, you can buy a reverse osmosis filter for your tap water. You could try a counter-top water filter, but we don't guarantee its effectiveness.
To test the quality of your distilled water, pour a few ounces into a clear container and add a few drops of Silver Solution (not Activator or Reducer). If the water immediately turns cloudy, it is not pure enough.

Tinning the Glass

Q. What does the palladium chloride do?
A. Copper and galena do not form mirrors easily. Palladium chloride acts as a catalyst or “supersensitizer” to help them bond with the tin. Palladium chloride does not affect the color of the final mirror. If you want to change the color of a copper or a galena mirror you can super sensitize the glass with silver or gold instead of palladium. The results can be very beautiful. The final color will depend on the thickness of the gold or silver layer.

Troubleshooting

Q. Is the mirroring process affected by heat or humidity?
A. Chemicals react faster when they are warm. The process works best if the thermometer in your shop reads 70° F. (20° C) or above. You can set your bottles in a pan of hot water to warm them up if you need to. Please do not put them in the microwave. The process will work with cool chemicals; it will just work more slowly.

Q. My silver mirror has stripes. What did I do wrong?
A. The tin was too strong. The stripes will not fade and you are going to have to clean off the glass and start over. A weak tinning solution allows the silver to form small, dense crystals that adhere evenly to the glass.

Q. My Angel Gilding has developed a wood-grained matte area. Please help.
A. You probably used plastic cups or dirty glass jars to mix the gold. If you used glass jars, they were greasy. Plastic cups have a release agent in them from the manufacturing process that contaminates the gold. You can save a lot of gold by using brand new paper cups for each pour. Galena will dissolve paper cups so we recommend plastic cups for them. For Copper, we strongly recommend mixing the chemicals in very clean glass containers. The release agent in plastic cups sometimes causes the copper to blister.

Q. My mirrors have a “ripple in the sand” pattern. Why is that?
A. You didn't tilt the mirroring tray while the deposit was forming. If the glass sits perfectly still and the deposit is slow to develop, it can form ridge patterns. Periodically tilt the tray glass gently in all directions to make sure that the deposit is forming evenly.

Q. The deposit on the edge of the mirror is thin and ragged. What happened?
A. The surface tension on the edge of the glass forces the chemicals away from the edge. Clean the edges carefully and rock the tray as we mentioned. With practice, you can tilt the tray just enough to get a small build-up of liquid on each edge. Hold it there for a bit to allow the edges to get equal time.

Q. Your site has pictures of glue-chipped and acid-etched mirrors. Can I mirror over a sandblasted design?
A. You can, but a sand-blasted surface is very rough. Silver and gold on a sandblasted surface look muddy. On the other hand, galena on a sandblasted surface looks very nice – very metallic. So it depends on the look you want to achieve.

Q. I glue-chipped and mirrored my glass. Now I have little holes in the mirroring. What happened?
A. You probably didn't clean it well enough. Small particles of sandblasting medium and/or chipping glue are stuck in the crevices and repelling the mirror. To clean the surface perfectly, mix a small amount of DrainSolve or Red Devil drain cleaner with water. Scrub the glass thoroughly with a plastic brush and rinse it thoroughly. These drain cleaners are made with lye which will dissolve the glue – and the oils in your skin if you're not careful. Wear heavy duty rubber gloves. As we said before, our mirroring chemicals are just as safe or safer than the chemicals you buy at the store to clean your house – and they are much more fun to use.