I recently opened up a small bottle of etching cream and noticed it was getting thick. Some parts were almost hardening to a point of being solid crystals!
This is fairly common if you haven’t used it in awhile and sometimes the bottle can even be shipped with crystals. To dilute thick cream or prevent hardening, I originally tried adding a little bit of water which seemed to work but many folks are saying it ruins their cream. So only try that after the below technique and before you decide to discard the bottle as a last resort.
Correct Method to Fix Hardened Cream
Cream will harden and crystallize especially in colder temperatures. The correct method to get rid of the crystals and make the cream have a less viscosity is by warming the bottle with its contents.
To do this, many manufacturers recommend you place the bottle in hot water for a few hours, or as long as required until the crystals have dissolved.
Container Options for Warming Cream
Some people may even place the bottle in an old pot on the stove with low heat. I don’t recommend using cookware that you use for food because the bottle can have residue of the cream chemicals. You may even try an empty tin can.
If bathing the cream off the stove, you can place it in a discardable plastic cup or empty spaghetti jar. Just pour the heated water in the cup.
Stir Cream While Warming
To help speed up the cream becoming more fluid, I suggest you also occasionally open the lid and stir the cream 2 or 3 times, every few minutues. Let it sit in warm water as long as possible.
I hope you enjoyed this tip and please leave a comment below. Please share this post with others. Thank you!
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WOW THANKS FOR THE TIP TO DILUTE THE ETCHCREME. WE HAD A LOT OF CRYSTALS IN THIS LAST BATCH. WILL TRY IT TODAY.
Hi Eric;
Just want you to know that I have been following your ideas allot and trying new things. Just recently I purchased a Silhouette Cameo and taken some courses in the use of this machine. It is a great machine. People use it for scrap booking but I have been using it in making my own stencils or from dover art. Since getting this machine I am learning how the programs work,sizing you name it,once I get my stencil cut out, transferring to the mirrors I do. I have used sand etching for the smaller pieces and used cream also. There was a big mirror with a Chuck wagon race that was requested of me to do as a gift for some one. The only way I could do it was using the etching cream. When using the etching cream I used a foam brush to spread the cream. Since it was a large stencil to do you had to work quickly and not spread the cream too thin. It was trying to find the right amount to spread and since it was large you had to go over it twice to make sure that it was well covered with cream. It had to sit at least two minutes so that it came out really well. I should have re-spread the cream after rinsing the first batch of cream off,but because the stencil started to lift from the first rinsing it would have been impossible to put a new stencil over the same area to spread but in the opposite direction. I love your ideas and tips and try to use them in my etchings.
I have learn so much from you. Still carving out a space to work in. I have purchased supplies including glass to practice on. Will be starting soon. Thanks loads.
thanks so much for all your helpful hint. have been etching for a long time and its always good to learn something new. tried the water to the etchcream. worked. thanks…
Please, I beg you, DO NOT add water to etchall etching creme. It will dilute it and you will not get a smooth even etch.
If your etchall has gotten cold, it will form little crystals. That is why we call it a “honey of a creme”….it is just like honey. Open a jar of honey and you will see little crystals….solution??? Take a pan of hot water OFF…OFF the stove and sit your jar of etchall in the hot water and stir…the crystals will dissolve.
Just as when etchall gets hot, like sitting in a UPS truck…..it will turn from white to tan to dark chocolate to licorice color…IT STILL WORKS!!
Karen…the $ stores have great glass and also your food jars from the grocery stores!! I love to check out the Good Will and Savors Stores. My all time favorite place is a good old garage or estate sale!!! Try it you will love all the goodie glass you will find!! God Bless….<
greetings,
Barbee is right, i added water to my armour cream, and really it sucks, not the same result as the cream before. i don’t know what to do, i just opened the bottle to the open air to try to evaporate the water in it.Hope it will work as before.
Adding water to get it to creamy again was the WRONG thing to do. Now my cream won’t etch, and I didn’t even add very much. Not happy!
@Janelle, I am very sorry to hear that. Was this done through a different product other than Armour Etch?
I only tested it with Armour etch. I just tested this same bottle that I added water to almost 2 years ago and it is still etching just as well. I believe the bottle is over 5 years old.
Also, are you diluting it to its original cream state or to a more liquid form?
Same here. I added a VERY small amount of water, like a few drops. Now it doesn’t etch at all, just makes the glass look dirty. So disappointed. Armour Etch. Shot glass. Had to buy another jar. Wasted almost a whole jar with this “tip”.
hello , in the company product description say that if it hardened put into warm water with the bottle wait a few time and stir untill it melts , I tried and it works , they say that puting water take the etching possibility off the product
I’ve tried armour etch and let it sit the recommended time, rinsed, no real etch. Followed the process several more times which ended up having the cream sit on votive candle holders for a hour, it was a very blotchy etch. Not professional looking at all. I tried silhouette brand etch cream and wow!!! What a difference. A very solid consistent etch. The down side of the cream is that the bottle tends to get very thick very fast! If it’s not a wet cream it can’t get into all the nooks and crannies of the adhesive vinyl if your doing delicate scrolls and flowers and font for that matter. I was doing 90 pieces for a wedding, I didn’t have time to figure out how to keep it moist so I just bought more bottles. So for my next etchings I’m going to try the sitting in hot water method with what I have left and see if it works. I’d really be afraid to add any water. I don’t think I will use armour etch again.
I use Armor Etching cream and I love the results. I put it on thick and leave it on longer than instructions say….about 3-5 minutes. I then scrape the excess off with my sponge brush and put it back in the bottle. I have found that if you heat the cream, it does do a better etching job. I put the bottle into a cup of hot water I heated in the microwave and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Near professional results.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I needed my Armour Etch for a last minute Christmas present and it was very hard in the bottle. But thanks to your suggestion, it’s like new again and I don’t have to drive an hour during the last minute Christmas shopping rush to buy more!
I’m going to put mine in hot water and see what happens I haven’t used in like 10 yrs and it’s very hard it has the liquid on top but bottom is hard tried stirring didn’t help like I was hoping. Hope hot water works or I got to try paint instead.
very informative, helpful instructionson this site
Thanks.