Product Review: Etching Cream

When I decided to make commemorative glasses for our Pi Day celebration I had never etched anything before but it seemed like it should be pretty easy. For the most part it was.

I purchased Armour Etch etching cream and Blank Reusable Stencil Material.

                   

                    

I had a few problems with making the stencil. To start with the stencil material is almost to thick to see the design through but I taped it to the window and used the light to help me see it and that worked fine. The other problem that I had was more of a personal problem than a tool problem. When I made the logo for our cups I made sure to chose a font that would be simple to cut out but I didn't think through how to cut out the letters until I was already cutting the stencil. So I had to make decisions on the fly about where to leave connector for things like the center of the letter. I actually procrastinated quite a bit on cutting this because I was afraid I'd mess everything up. Bear thought it was cute, he said he'd never seen me this stressed out by a craft before. That being said when I did finally get it done I was pretty happy with it. One section is a little delicate because the letters are so small but it worked just fine. (I'll probably never use lettering that small again but simple design like the bear I used are really easy to cut.)

I don't own any fancy cutting machines like a Cricut or Silhouette but if you did it would simplify the cutting greatly. Just use it to cut the design out of adhesive-backed vinyl and use that.

I ended up with a three part stencil: the bear silhouette, the scroll with the letters, and the shield outline. It was a little tricky to get the stencil positioned the first time but it got easier as I worked. Its important to make sure you don't have any air bubbles or the cream will seep underneath.

        

My bottle of etching cream didn't have instructions, just safety information, but luckily the stencil material did. It suggested leaving the cream on for just one minute but when I checked one corner it didn't look etched and I was nervous about having to reposition all the stencil parts. When we checked it at 5 minutes it still didn't look etched but I decided to take the stencil off anyways. I figured it that didn't do the job it would never be done. However after rinsing it off it looked great! 

Did it etch?

That's my main tip for using this etching cream. When you are rinsing it, it doesn't look etched but as it dries the design shows up. We ended up using a 5 minute time for all the glasses we made but the suggested 1 minute would probably have been fine.

Now I see it!

We ended up with 16 glasses in total and the stencils held up very well to all the repositioning. The exception to this is the piece you see in the picture above. All the tiny bits like the spaces in the letter E stretched as I pulled it off of each glass. By the end I was afraid it would tear before I finished. It made it through but I wouldn't trust it for any further uses.

In conclusion I really liked both of these products. The stencil material is easy to cut and position and seems like it holds up well to repeated use. I've kept the stencils and will try to remember to update this if/ when I use them again with how they've held up over the long term.

The cream is super easy to use. Just brush it on in an even layer and let it sit. Everyone at our party loves their favors. I have quite a bit of etching cream left over and plan to etch something on our trifle bowl and a few of our casserole dishes to label them for potlucks.

Party Cups Ready to Go