The responses will have a direct bearing on what method of coloring and what type of paint we will choose. As it turns out, most of the questions center on a very specific product: wine bottles, and so I have decided to write this article about blasting and color filling wine bottles.

Configuring the layout on the computer.

Trying out a printed layout on paper for correct size.

Thinking about customizing a wine bottle is really not such a farfetched idea, knowing how often I bring one along as a gift to the person that invited me. So, why not make it a more personal gesture by adding a sentiment to the bottle? When doing this for one of your customers, you will have to insist that the customer purchase the wine and bring the bottle to you, unless you happen to have a liquor license. This way the customer can choose whatever type of wine they like and are therefore responsible for the content to the recipient. We have quite a few choices of designs that fit many different occasions—from birthdays to weddings to anniversaries to Christmas—that our customers can choose from, and we are happy to accommodate our customer's wishes.

Now that the dedication is selected and the wine bottle is in house, the actual work can begin. To start, we will be removing the main label from the wine bottle, but we will be very careful to have the smaller label remain for legal reasons. This smaller label gives all the pertinent information about the wine: what type, where it was grown, the vineyard and/or importer, and the content ingredients. So we have to take care to not soak the whole bottle, but only the side with the main label.

We use a dish rack that we set into our sink and position the bottle with the main label facing down into the water. Once the label floats off, we check for any glue residue, scrub the bottle where the label was and dry it off. We are now ready to apply the stencil, which was made from photo resist. As with all round objects, it is easier to work on them when they are not rolling around on your work surface. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways: by blocking the bottle left and right with a rag or sponge material or using something like an old pillow or bean bag to embed the bottle in. It is also helpful to mark the position of your stencil before you try to apply it to the bottle. You apply the photo resist in the usual manner and make sure that you have removed the cover sheet before going on to the next step.

Soaking the main label side only.

You are almost ready to blast, but first, you need to protect the bottle and the other label still on it from the abrasive during the blasting process. Here it is a good idea to actually create a bottle “mummy”, something I usually discourage when it comes to glassware. In order to do this, we employ household stretch wrap and make sure that the whole bottle is completely covered and only the area to be etched is still exposed. Now we use blue masking tape to tape around the stencil area to fix the stretch wrap in place and prevent the abrasive from getting under it. Blasting the design is the next step.

When getting your blasting set up ready, you want to make sure that your light source will be shining down onto the bottle as you cradle it in your hand so that you can see highlights and shadows develop as you are trying to achieve some depth with the blasting. Having depth is important with this project because when you later introduce the color to the design, the etched areas have to be deep enough to accept the paint and have it level out under the surface of the rest of the bottle so that any overspills of color can be cleaned off easily and also, so that the paint won’t get easily damaged by someone cleaning/scrubbing the bottle. With your pressure system, you will be blasting at about 30 to 35 lbs of pressure. And do not worry, wine bottles are quite thick, and there is not much chance of going too deep.

Now that the design is blasted, you have to get ready for the main process, applying the color or colors. Here you will have to do some samples if you have not color filled before, in order to know how to proceed from here. I like to color fill without having the resist on the object which will require that after color filling, I won’t have to move quite so quickly as when I decide to leave the resist in place. But I am getting a little ahead of myself; let me explain the differences so you can decide. First, when you want to introduce color, you have to make sure that the blasted areas are absolutely clean. This will be accomplished in different ways depending on if the resist is on the bottle or not.

Cleaning the label side thoroughly.

For my process, I remove the stretch wrap, take a wet sponge and clean the blasted face of the bottle and then dry it. If you prefer the resist on while painting, then you cannot do that, of course, and you will have to air blow the abrasive out of the blasted areas and then dab those areas with a damp paper towel to make sure all dust is gone so that the paint won’t be contaminated by dust or abrasive residue. In both methods, I would remove the stretch wrap and re-apply fresh wrap to protect the bottle from paint. And in both cases, you will have to re-tape the wrap around the blasted area.

The next step is the paint application. Nowadays we primarily use spray paints for the process, as most projects do not require more than two or three colors. When things get more involved and color transitions are called for, we would prefer using the airbrush. There are two requirements for choosing spray paints: first, that you choose a good brand like Rustoleum or Krylon, and second, that you use the same brand and type of paint for the same project. We have found problems within a brand while trying to combine different types of paint, like the paints rejecting one another or one type curdling up the other. If you need to apply different colors, then you will have to tape off any areas not to be covered with the first color you are going to apply.

When spray painting, it is important to do this in a well-ventilated area with exhaust fans on, and wearing a respirator which is specifically for paint fumes and not for abrasive dusts. You will proceed differently than when spray painting flat areas. Since the blasted areas are deep, they have side walls that also need to be painted. To make sure that this will happen, it is important to spray thin coats of paint and to be spraying from different angles, so that the side walls are covered from every angle. Most spray paints dry to the touch in just minutes, so you will be able to remove tape from other areas and re-tape just-painted areas quickly. And ‘quickly’ is important if you decided to leave the resist on while painting. Since the paint dries so quickly, it will also quickly form a bond with the resist on the glass.

Applying the photo resist to the bottle.	Peeling off the cover sheet.
Taping around the stencil.	Making a stretch wrap “mummy” out of the bottle.

If you let the paint dry too long, this bond is formed, and then, when you try to remove the resist, the edges of the paint will tear out as you pull the resist off, leaving a not-so-cleanly-defined painted area. For this reason, I prefer taking the resist off, painting, and then taking a razor blade and removing the paint overspray. Here it is important to constantly change blades so that there is no chance of paint build up on the blade, causing it to not lay flat on the glass and pivot while pushed, increasing the risk of scratches. After a final inspection of the paint job, it is time to remove any tape and stretch wrap, and voila, you’re done. All you have to do now is let the paint actually cure before turning the bottle over to the recipient. Refer to the paint can to find out how long the curing process will take; it can range from 24 hours to several days.

Blasting the bottle.	Taping off areas not to be painted with the first color.	Revoming first color tape layer.
The taped-off first painted areas.	The second color painted.	Removing second color over spray.

Giving the gift of a blasted and painted wine bottle always creates some excitement with the recipient and other guests. There is no better way of advertising and having the word get around. So ‘Cheers’ and be the center of attention at your next gathering, or at least your customers will enjoy basking in the attention to this unusual gift.

The finished piece.

© Ruth L Dobbins 2011