First Time Installing Window Frosting Advice Required

[Hugh Potter]

take some spare 610 wide just in case…

spray (soak) the window with a water / soap solution (no more than a couple of drops of cheapo washing liquid or baby bath to 1/2ltr or more.

put the frosting against the glass (vinyl side to glass) and it’ll stick, remove backing, soak adhesive side, turn it around and float into position, when happy begin to squeegee to lock it in place, then go about your usual way of squeegeeing.

shouldn’t take ten mins. be sure to soak the glass and razor scrape it clean first. paying particular attention to edges.

Hugh

[David Hammond]

I don’t have any spare 610 😳

I’ve cut 2 sets of vinyl as my just in case. I had enough a small roll I bought in months ago for a job that never materialised. Ended up binning most of it as it was scuffed and damaged.

Liking the idea of sticking the frosting to the glass whilst removing the backing.

I intend to just app tape across the lettering not the entire frosting.

[John Harding]

Nah be brave do it dry its not that big – hinge one end and just go for it, etch on glass is real easy, also beware a lot of etch now (graphityp for example) is easy apply and must be done dry anyhow.

Take your time slow overlapping strokes – once youve done it dry you wont go wet again I would app tape the whole piece

John 😀

[Chris Windebank]

determine which side of the glass you are going to fit to, you might have to reverse the image, can look nice applied to the other side as the glass gives depth

[Gary Birch]

quote John Harding:

Nah be brave do it dry its not that big – hinge one end and just go for it, etch on glass is real easy, also beware a lot of etch now (graphityp for example) is easy apply and must be done dry anyhow.

Take your time slow overlapping strokes – once youve done it dry you wont go wet again I would app tape the whole piece

John 😀

I have to agree… dry is the way to go.

Cheers

Gary

[Chris Windebank]

All depends what vinyl you use.
Some are great dry some are not.
Each method of installing have certain benefits

Static is a problem as you are aware but this can be tamed by wet applying.

All depends on the area of glass too. If I were to cover a long stretch of glass I would go wet, if names/logos or under a metre of solid etch I would go dry.

Bubble free does not work for me, have had issues with streaks even with app tape.

Get samples of etch in and try them all because before you know it you will be doing more and more and its nice to keep with the same brand

Hope some of that makes sense

[David Hammond]

Cheers guys.

I am pretty sure it’s Metamarks crystal etch – I’ve never used it before.

I am doing this on behalf of another company, who have advised to install it on the outside (it is an interior door)

I always thought applying frosting dry resulted in white streaks???

[David-Foster-]

Hi David

I only know what I have learned from the guys here. I think the white streaks are when it’s wet, it is the glue but they do go away.

I would weed the lettering after you have put it on the glass. If you do it wet though, the app tape will pull the lettering off I think until the frosting has dried.

I think frosting with a 5mm margin inside the frame looks good. It stops the edge of the frosting looking grubby and peeling around the frame.

[Matty Goodwin]

I would advise to cover the whole piece in app tape as was said earlier, otherwise you can get a little row of bubbles around the logo if you only tape the logo bit.

[Gwaredd Steele]

quote David Hammond:

Cheers guys.

I always thought applying frosting dry resulted in white streaks???

Yeah, I’ve had that problem with large panels with various makes of frosted. Pressure marks I think they’re called. They go after a few days though.

I always apply wet unless it’s really ornate, as this gives an instant finish with no marks & also gives you a bit of recovery time should that inevitable piece of dirt sneak onto your meticulously cleaned window panel!

Milking of the glue seems a thing of the past & removal of the app tape is instant now too, whereas a few years back, you had to wait around for it to dry.

So far, the best I’ve found is Avery crystal glass for windows & Image Perfect silver frosted for mirrors.

If in doubt; wet.

[David Hammond]

Many thanks for the advice.

We were set to install dry, however managed to tear 1 of the pieces getting it of the backing. Probably because it has been propped up against a wall for coming on 12 months.

So with the second and final piece we went with applying it wet, using water and 1 drop of stardrops.

No white marks, it dried really quick too. They were over the moon with it.

I will be experimenting with the ripped piece to get to grips with applying it dry.

Thanks for the advice.