See how we remove the backing paint from a factory mirror.

English Transcription of Video:

Hi, thanks for stopping by Angel Gilding. I'm Alix, and today's project is all about how to remove the backing paint off of your mirror. Now if you want to antique a commercial mirror that you've purchased or you want to insert an image into a mirror, the first step is going to be removing that backing paint. Now, it's important that we do this properly because we want to make sure we fully remove that paint without disrupting that silver layer beneath. So to do that, I'm going to be using my Back To Nature Multi-Strip. This is a paint stripper that we sell and we found that it's very effective at doing just that. It removes the backing paint, but it leaves that silver fully intact. Now, I will say that it does not work as fast as some other paint strippers, but it's certainly going to get the job done and it's a lot more environmentally friendly than some other products you might find.

So for today's project, I'm going to be using a commercially made silver mirror, as you can see, and I've just got that laid out on this craft paper Multi-Strip. Like I said, it's a safe product, but it's a messy product, so it's always good to lay something down on your bench. It makes cleanup a lot easier later on. And I'm going to be using my paint scraper. This is a really handy tool to spread that multis strip out. Now, as you'll see, if we open it up, it's kind of a jello gelatinous type substance. It's a little funny to work with. You'll essentially just scoop some up and spread it onto your mirror. Now what you're looking for is to fully coat the back of the mirror. It doesn't have to be as beautiful as if you were painting a picture or icing a cake. You just want to get a good somewhat even layer.

One thing I found is really important as you're working with it is to make sure you get right to those edges. What I've found is sometimes I kind of go a little in and then I'm having to reapply it later. So just make sure you get right to those edges. Once again, it doesn't have to be pretty. We just want to get it covered. Okay, I've got this fully covered. Now I'd like to say I want to get one good goopy layer. As you can see, it's not beautiful. It's not perfectly even, but it's covered and that's what's important. So now I just want to let it sit. I'm going to make sure that I allow plenty of time, and what I'm looking for is for the multis strip to kind of start bubbling up a little bit. And then if I start to see that in a certain area, I'll come back with

My paint scraper and lift it off a little bit just to see that that paint is coming off. So I'll see you back in just a little bit. Well, it's been several hours and I can see that my multis strip has done its work. It's bubbling up nicely, and I can see actually the backing paint underneath has bubbled up as well. So I always like to check first in a little corner to see that it isn't back lifting. And I see now that it is coming up very nicely with the multis strip. So I want to just go gently around lifting it up where I can.

You can see just how nicely that's coming up. That Multi-Strip has certainly done its job. Now, as you're doing this, if you do find that there's some areas where the backing paint is not coming up, what I find to be easiest is actually just to apply a little bit more of the Multi-Strip and let it sit just a little bit longer. If what you're doing is antiquing a mirror, you want to be careful not to be rubbing it too hard to get that off because that could affect the silver layer underneath. Now, once you've gotten all of your backing paint off, as well as all of the Multi-Strip, you want to make sure to clean off your mirror so that it's ready for the next step. And you can just do this with some tap waters, a soft bun in the glass cleaner. Now, as we mentioned, Multi-Strip is an environmentally friendly product. I can go ahead and dispose of my waste here in the regular trash and then proceed with my next step in my project. So if you have any questions or thoughts on videos you'd like to see, be sure to leave those in the comments below. Subscribe to our channels, be notified of our future videos, and check out our website, angel gilding.com. Thanks.