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Sealing Your Stenciled Projects
You must seal your stenciled projects to make them washable and easy to clean. Different surfaces require different methods to seal.
• Wood: Apply 2 coats of water-based varnish to seal your wooden projects. Thereafter, rub a wax sealer to add shine to your projects. Make sure to give enough time in between coats to dry.
• Wall: Applying varnish to a section of the wall to seal the stencil print may not be very feasible. Hence to make your stenciled wall projects last long, use store-brought wall paints to print designs on the wall using stencils.
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• Tin/ Metal/ Terra cotta/ Canvas: Apply 2 coats of water-based varnish to seal your tin/ metal projects. Make sure to give enough time in between coats to dry.
• Glass/ Ceramic: Mod-podge can be used to seal stencil prints on glass and small ceramic pots. To seal bigger ceramic pots and tiles you can use low gloss varnish from hardware stores as they provide stain-free, tile like effects on drying.
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• Paper/ Paper Mache: Home decor projects made on paper base should be sealed to make them last long and easy to clean. If you have used permanent inks and paints to create your project, you can use any water-based varnish to seal your project. If you have used watercolors or dye inks, you can use Mod-Podge or gel medium with a dry brush technique to seal your projects. You can also use Ranger Distress Glaze (gel/ spray) or a watercolor spray varnish to seal your paper projects.
• Fabric: You need to heat set your paint when stenciling on fabric. Sandwich a piece of scrap fabric or parchment paper over the stenciled design. Set the iron on the medium setting and glide over the fabric continuously.
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Cleaning Your Stencils
Stencils should be cleaned immediately after use to prolong their life. Don’t use very hot or boiling water to clean stencils, as it can damage the stencils. Here are some simple tips to clean your stencils:
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• When using inks, wipe stencils with a damp cloth or baby wipes to clean the ink from stencil.
• When using paints, run stencil under warm water and lightly scrub with a toothbrush or plastic scrub. Pay attention to areas around the edges.
• If the paint has caked on your stencil, soak the stencil in warm soapy water for 2 hours (or overnight) in a baking/ cookie tray. Scrub with a toothbrush or plastic scrub thereafter to get rid of the paint. Thereafter, run them under water and leave aside to dry.
• When using oil paints, use mineral spirits or turpentine to clean your stencils. Thereafter, run them under water and leave aside to dry.
• When using alcohol-based markers, use rubbing alcohol to clean your stencils. Thereafter, run them under water and leave aside to dry.
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Storing Your Stencils
Stencils can last for a long time if they are cleaned and stored properly.
• You can store your stencils either horizontally or hang them by a hook.
• Reverse stencils should always store stencils in individual pocket sleeves
to avoid tangling of stencil designs.
• Store stencils in a cool place.
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Mediums That Can Be Used With Stencils
Various color and texture mediums can be used with stencils to create your favorite home decor items. Based on the texture that you want to achieve and the surface that you are working on, you can use different mediums with the stencil for printing designs.
• Paints: Based on the surface of printing, you can use acrylic, chalk, fabric, or oil paints with the stencil for printing. If you are creating on paper, you can also use water-colors.
• Inks: You can also use different kinds of inks (pigment, dye, chalk, solvent, or hybrid) with stencils to create designs. Inks sprays can also be used with stencils.
• Pens, markers, and pencils: You can use alcohol-based markers, waterproof fine liners, sketch pens, glitter pens, gel pens, pencil colors (wax-based or watercolors), crayons, Gelatos with stencils to create beautiful home decor projects.
• Texture paste: Various texture paste, gel mediums, fiber paste, sand paste, glass bead paste, glitter paste; crackle paste can be used with a stencil to add beautifully textured designs to your home decor projects.
• Art mediums: Wax mousse, heavy texture paints, pearl powders, dry glitter, heat embossing powder can also be used to add beautiful designs with stencils on your home decor projects.
