Question Grey removed from corners of frame

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SouthernFramer

Grumbler in Training
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Jan 26, 2012
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Alabama
I have an employee who wiped away glue in all four corners of a frame. When he did he wiped a wet rag and removed away the grey that is on corners of the frame. Several of my corner samples has the grey on the edges of the frame. So there must be something out there that manufactures use when they are building the frames. Putty will not blend in with the existing grey on the frame. I hate to order more moulding. I will if there is no other option I will order more moulding and call It a loss. Any thoughts on how to get the grey back in the corners of the frame ??
 
What was removed was probably rottenstone. It is a powdered stone used to give a "dusty" patina to ornate finishes.
There are many finishes out there that you can't wipe with a wet cloth or let the glue squeeze out the front.
I don't know what moulding you are working with, but if you have any extra scraps or pieces you can try to take a wet paintbrush and transfer some of the rottenstone from the scrap to the frame corners. Take a small brush and wet it with water and try to remove the rottenstone from the scrap. Just dab it carefully into the area that has been wiped clean and let it dry.
Don't overdo it. Try it out on a scrap first. Don't use putty, it will just look worse if you do.
 
Re: Grey removed from corners of frame.

neilframer said:
What was removed was probably rottenstone. It is a powdered stone used to give a "dusty" patina to ornate finishes.
There are many finishes out there that you can't wipe with a wet cloth or let the glue squeeze out the front.
I don't know what moulding you are working with, but if you have any extra scraps or pieces you can try to take a wet paintbrush and transfer some of the rottenstone from the scrap to the frame corners. Take a small brush and wet it with water and try to remove the rottenstone from the scrap. Just dab it carefully into the area that has been wiped clean and let it dry.
Don't overdo it. Try it out on a scrap first. Don't use putty, it will just look worse if you do.
Click to expand...


Thank You ! did some web searches and you are right it is Rottenstone.
 
There are different colors of rottenstone also. Some is more brown and some is more grey.
If you can salvage some from scraps it may give you the best match.
Practice on a scrap if you can. You've got nothing to lose.
If it works, great. If it doesn't you probably would have to get replacements anyway.
You could cut down the long sides for shorts and replace the longs if you have to.
 
White glue and powdered tempera (dust lightly over the wet glue,not mixing it in) will work. You can also mix the tempera with paste wax. Test on a scrap. L
 
There are lots of ways manufacturers put gray washes on moulding. Rottenstone is usually dusted on dry and the excess brushed off. It can also be bound in hot bunny glue as an overall patina. Generally factory finished moulding isn't dry-dusted. Paint is often used as a gray toning. That can rub off - depends of the manufacturing process.

Any chance of a picture?
 
All good suggestions here. I have had some success mixing water color to match. It is time-consuming, but sometimes works.
 
Or you could do like I did. Toss out all the samples with finishes that are too fragile for the real world. You framer did this with a light wipe, imagine what a customer would do during a spring cleaning. This is why I no longer carry Roma mouldings.
 
neilframer said:
What was removed was probably rottenstone. It is a powdered stone used to give a "dusty" patina to ornate finishes.
There are many finishes out there that you can't wipe with a wet cloth or let the glue squeeze out the front.
I don't know what moulding you are working with, but if you have any extra scraps or pieces you can try to take a wet paintbrush and transfer some of the rottenstone from the scrap to the frame corners. Take a small brush and wet it with water and try to remove the rottenstone from the scrap. Just dab it carefully into the area that has been wiped clean and let it dry.
Don't overdo it. Try it out on a scrap first. Don't use putty, it will just look worse if you do.
Click to expand...

Something that works very well to replace the powdered stone wash look on many mouldings is to use a paint brush to paint on a light coating of a top coat finish in the area that needs to be rewashed. Generally satin or matte/flat finish coats work best. Let it dry until it is still a bit tacky. Note: The more transparent you need the wash to be the drier the fixative should be. Only cover the area that needs to be touched up with the fixative.

Then, using chalk of a color that matches...you may have to use more than one color of chalk to get the exact match....rub the chalk on a paper surface so that you make a dust. Now, using a dry paint brush, paint the chalk powder on to the tacky area. Note: You should use a scrap piece of moulding to practice on to make sure the color matches and to get the hang of how much powder is needed to get the desired look, before trying it on your actual frame.

This method and many others are in the instructional booklet that comes with our moulding repair system.
 
FrameMakers said:
imagine what a customer would do during a spring cleaning.
Click to expand...

In 42 years of framing I have never unearthed any evidence that any customers ever clean their glass, much less their frames.

So - no worries on that front!
 
Framar said:
In 42 years of framing I have never unearthed any evidence that any customers ever clean their glass, much less their frames.

So - no worries on that front!
Click to expand...

I never worry.... a long time ago a glass distributor told me that nationally,
only 5% of the population ever washes their windows, and less than 2%
do it more than a couple of times a decade. Easier to just move.

Our window washer loves us twice a year.... but he won't touch picture
framed glass - - he heard somewhere about a coating that goes on . . . . . :confused:
 
Framar said:
In 42 years of framing I have never unearthed any evidence that any customers ever clean their glass, much less their frames.

So - no worries on that front!
Click to expand...

When I think about it, the only thing I ever do with my own pictures is to wipe the frames with a dry dust rag.
 
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