Bad Triple Thick!

Hello Subbies,

Well, August is almost over and I have never encountered so many delays in such a short time. If you have been following my blog I challenge myself to complete 10 to 20 ornaments by the end of July. Sadly I failed my own challenge very badly, but I kept on going to see if maybe I could finish it two weeks into August.

I was surprised that my little boy got sick with the flu since he didn’t show any signs until it was bad. A few days later my little baby girl was sick also. It wasn’t soon after until I fell into the same sickness. There went my two weeks. Then my husband went in to surgery which had him laid out for another week.

The worst part of it all is I had my ornaments completed a week ago only to have my Triple Thick go belly up. I had bought an 8 FL of the tub back in 2010 and I have to tell you it worked amazingly. I never had a problem, not even once. Well, back in July of this year I bought myself a brand spanking new tub of Triple Thick from Hobby Lobby. I started glazing, in the same way, I did in 2010 not thinking I had any problems.

Until the glaze was fully cured, that’s when I noticed it . . . CRACKING!! Not just a little cracking but big lines, notable lines, the kind of lines that make earthquake damage look like a paper cut. I showed my husband perplex. What happens? What did do wrong? Did Hobby Lobby sell me a bum product?

My husband told me not to worry we will take it back and buy it from Michael’s. I never took back the product telling my husband I could use it if I need a crackle effect later on.  I had to Gesso every single ornament and re-paint. Finally done I re-applied the Triple Thick that I bought at Michael’s and at first I thought it worked, I gave it two full days and I saw it again. CRACKING….. What is going on! I check online and sure enough, reports showed everywhere. That Triple Trick will in some cases crack your paint. Why was this happen now?

I have ornaments sitting on my shelf right now that I made in 2010 with no signs of cracks? So what happened between 2010 – 2014? Well, whatever the case, I couldn’t use that glaze anymore and had to find a new glaze. I have re-gesso and repainted all the bulbs again. And then when on the hunt for a glaze or gloss I could use. I spent hours looking at reviews and finally settled with Americana DuraClear Gloss Varnish. It’s ok, it’s watery and it will take up to 3 to 4 coats to get the shine I’m looking for. I’m not 100% happy since with Triple Thick I just needed one coat and it looked professional. With this new stuff, it’s taking forever to give me the shine I want but at least it’s not cracking.