We have already seen how we can tune furniture and objects with vinyl to give them a renewed look, I have also told you how to choose a vinyl floor to change the flooring of our home without works, so now it is the turn of the vinyl electrostatic to decorate glass and mirrors.
The electrostatic vinyls they preserve the intimacy of the room without reducing light, and can be used both in windows and in mirrors, shower screens or showcases. I know adhere to the glass thanks to static energy, This means that its placement is not complicated, although it is necessary to follow a series of steps so that it is perfectly placed.
This type of vinyl is easy to find in DIY centers, either in rolls or cut according to our needs. In the market there are different designs that give the glass a frosted, acid-etched appearance or decorated with geometric shapes, letters or figures. With this post I want to show you how to put an electrostatic vinyl on a window with a custom design.
MATERIALS
First of all we will need the following materials:
- electrostatic vinyl
- Cutter
- vinyl scraper
- A ruler to guide us in straight cuts
- Alcohol to clean the glass
- A water sprayer
- A cloth to remove traces of water
STEP 1: Clean the glass
The glass where we are going to place the vinyl must be free of grease, dust and dirtFor this, I like to use methylated spirit for cleaning, giving it several passes if necessary and drying it well with absorbent paper.
STEP 2: Decorate the electrostatic vinyl
Once we have chosen the design with which we want to decorate the electrostatic vinyl, we can trace the drawing directly on the vinyl and then cut it with a cutter.
Although you can also place the vinyl without cutting on the window, place the drawing on the back of the glass and cut the drawing directly (in this case we would skip to step 3 and leave step 2 for the end).
Both forms have their advantages and disadvantages. If we cut the vinyl before placing it on the glass we can get a more precise drawing but the placement is a bit more complicated. On the other hand, it is a bit more complicated to cut the drawing well once the vinyl is placed on the glass, especially if we have to work with the glass vertically.
I tried both ways and I would only recommend the second one if the drawing was not too complicated. For example, in case of decorating with letters, it is better to cut first and adhere later; in the case of geometric figures or simple silhouettes, it can be adhered first and cut later.
STEP 3: Moisten the glass
Before placing the electrostatic vinyl we must spray slightly soapy water (a drop of detergent is enough) all over the surface. Do not worry if it seems that there is too much water since the excess is eliminated once we place the vinyl. I have observed that better results (less bubbles) are obtained with more water on the surface than with less.
STEP 4: Peel off the protective film
This type of vinyl has a transparent sheet on the face that we must adhere to the glass, it is very important to peel off the protective sheet before applying the vinyl. It seems obvious but being transparent, sometimes it goes unnoticed and the vinyl does not adhere to the surface.
STEP 5: place the vinyl on the glass with the help of a spatula
We place the vinyl on glass by the part that covered the protective sheet and we pass the spatula from the center to the edges so that it is perfectly adhered and without bubbles. With a cloth we will dry the excess water that accumulates on the edges.
Do not worry too much if you have some small bubbles left, the vast majority disappear once the surface has dried well.
With the help of a ruler and the cutter, we will cut the excess vinyl until it is adjusted to a minimum of a couple of millimeters from the window frame.
If we follow these steps we can have a window with translucent glass decorated with a personalized design for just €12 (€8 linear meter 92 centimeters wide).
Have you ever placed this type of vinyl? I had used them before but I had not dared to decorate it with a drawing, do you dare?
