DecoArt Triple Thick Gloss Glaze - Jar, 8fl oz

I enjoy painting and often look at tutorials with tips and how to's on art Recently I saw a video on how to apply Triple Thick Gloss by Deco Art. I was pretty impressed with how glossy the tutors painting was after she applied and let dry the Triple Thick. I bought a jar on Amazon and applied it to a painting I had just finished. WOWZERS! Glossy is an understatement! Oh did I mention that it dries fast with no brush strokes and easy peasy clean up? I imediately bought three more jars!I would definately reccomend this product.

I made clay ornaments and painted the white after embossing them. Once dried I applied this gloss finish on with a foam brush. They look like glass! So beautiful! I'll continue keeping this in my crafting tools!! Very happy with the results!!

The media could not be loaded. TL,DR: product was thicker than anticipated, surface dried very fast, used more than I thought I would need to, product is self-leveling, I experienced no bubbles or surface cracking, product dries down to a very hard, reflective, glass-like finish.6/4/2023. Please read the addition to the review at the end, so you don’t make the mistake I did!This product does give a nice glassy sheen. I used it to seal in glitter on a MacBook Pro case (see photo/video.) I had used several coats of glossy Mod Podge prior, but the coverage was terrible, and the surface never became very shiny. I then tried a couple of coats of Golden Heavy Gel Gloss because I had some on hand. The coverage was better, but every brush stroke was visible in the surface, and the finish was still not glossy.I was considering using resin (or something like Varathane) as I wanted glossiness that would be a very "present" layer, very shiny- like the finish on a surfboard, or an electric guitar. I wanted however to use a water-based product. I am very solvent-sensitive, and don't really have anywhere to work that has decent ventilation, and I have cats, so I decided to try something else prior to committing to resin.The reviews for this product on Amazon were mixed, but the majority seemed to be pretty positive. This wasn't an expensive product, and after I checked out the photos and the video of its performance (thanks, guys!), I ordered it.The product arrived intact. The container was not cracked, or broken, or leaking. It was just sitting in its little box, with nothing wrong with it at all. The jar of product was completely full, with the (styrofoam?) sealing layer on the top completely intact, and adhered firmly to the plastic jar beneath it. The product had clearly never been used.After opening it, I tilted the jar slightly to examine the flow of the product. I could tell this stuff was VERY viscous. I had a thought to thin it out with water, but I didn't do this, as I needed to see how this stuff behaved when it was used straight out of the jar.Its viscosity created a usage learning curve. I found that using a dry, artificial bristle brush (I paint in acrylic, so I have a lot of these around) worked the best to apply it. I used a brush that was about an inch and a quarter wide. I didn't want to use anything too wide to get into the jar comfortably. Make sure to use a dry brush- excess water on your brush will fall into the product and mess up your finish.I found also that loading up the brush with a *lot* of glaze made for a more successful application. A lighter load of product on the brush resulted in brush strokes showing, and a streaky finish.The first layer ended up going on a lot thicker than I had anticipated, due to how viscous the product is. Again- if you don't load up the brush, if you are covering a large surface area, with a decent amount of product, your brush is going to run out of product quickly, and the finish is going to show brush strokes. This would not apply if you are glazing smaller objects, where a lesser quantity of glaze is required to cover the object, and you have more control over the application.This product is self-leveling. After the initial layer, a lot of brush strokes and imperfections in the prior coatings were still visible. I left the project alone to dry, and brush strokes visible the night before had diminished after a night of drying. Each subsequent coat created a smoother surface, as the glaze filled in the imperfections.After the second coat (I wanted a really built-up, shiny finish, and one layer didn't do this) was drying, I was alarmed to see hazy white places in the finish. When I checked these areas about an hour later, they were still there. However, after I left the MacBook case to dry again overnight, these hazy whitish places were gone. They were probably thicker areas that were showing moisture suspended in the product. Regardless, by the morning, they had vanished, and the finish was very shiny, showing only a few brushstrokes.I was quite relieved that I had no trouble with bubbles showing up in the finish (although there is one bubble in the photo, if you look closely- but that was an isolated incident.) I was actually surprised at the lack of bubbles. Of course, if you move your brush too fast, or scrub it back and forth across the surface, you will get bubbles in any glaze. But this glaze, for me, was bubble-free.I keep mentioning this, but I think this glaze is the most viscous I have ever worked with. It is THICK. By the third coat, I had started to figure out the best way to handle it, really loading up my brush, using slow, steady brush strokes, and found it a lot easier to work with.The photo was taken shortly after the third coat was applied. You can see some of that whitish haziness in some areas. I had let the MacBook cover dry for 48 hours before I shot the video. The video actually doesn't capture how shiny the finish really is.I had had a lot of flawed finishes to cover from the prior coatings, so perhaps if I had started glazing initially with the DecoArt Triple Glaze, I would not have had to use three coats. Or because I was going for a resin-like, super shiny finish, I might have needed to use multiple coats after all: I don't know.Looking at my project now, I am quite pleased with it. It's not "cured" dry yet (it was by the video) but the surface is *very* shiny. I may put on one more coat just to really get that surfboard/electric guitar depth of glossiness. It actually has that kind of finish right now, but I need to let it dry over night to see if it even needs another coat. (I just checked it again, and it looks like three coats are going to be enough. It's beautifully reflective.)I live in a very arid state, so I must emphasize this: make sure the jar is always firmly closed. And if you live in a drier part of the country, I would store the jar in the following way. Make sure the jar is closed tightly, then put the jar into a plastic bag, wrap the excess of the bag around the jar, and secure the plastic bag around the jar with a rubber band, wrapped tight. The first night, I didn't do this, and noticed significant loss of product due to the low humidity here (it averages around 9-13%.). If I open it again, and notice even more evaporation, I am going to put a damp paper towel into the plastic bag with the product, then close it up with the rubber band when storing it. Yes, I know that sounds weird, butevaporating art supplies = a waste of a lot of money.I am probably going to try thinning the product with water after I finish with this project- I’ve used about half of the product- and use it to glaze an acrylic or gouache painting as a test. I love a high shine gloss on my paintings, and my favorite product to achieve this is Golden Polymer Medium Gloss. Unfortunately, my budget does not allow me to purchase that product right now, so I am very glad that I found the DecoArt Glaze. I'll have to see how it performs on flexible substrates like canvas and watercolor and printmaking paper. I'm sure it will work great.I just wish it came in a larger size- like a gallon!This product does give off an acrylic paint/acrylic medium low odor- like very very weak ammonia. Any smell/fumes were easily dispersed with a small table fan, and I did not get a headache as I usually do. I am very solvent-sensitive after many years of working around volatile solvents.Cons: product is super viscous, jar is too small, used more product than anticipated due to needing to cover a prior flawed surface, product has very fast evaporation rate, will ruin your brush in the blink of an eye.Pros: gives a very shiny, glass-like finish, self-leveling so a very smooth surface can be achieved, product dries to a nice hard finish.I would never assume your finish is going to be waterproof, no matter how long it has been since the DecoArt glaze has dried on your project’s surfaces. So if you are planning to store your item(s) glazed with DecoArt outside, like the decorated garden rocks (etc.) either cover it/them in plastic if you think it is going to rain, or put the glazed item(s) under an awning or someplace where moisture cannot get to them.As with any acrylic painting, if the apparently dry surface is exposed to enough water, the paint and medium can and will soften, and can either peel up, or bubble. First you will see white hazing in the finish to indicate there is moisture/water in that area of the finish. Another test is if you poke the surface with a fingernail and you see a dent that persists- that means the painting is holding on to a lot of moisture.If you see this, you should set the artwork or project or whatever aside in a completely dry environment immediately, and allow it to dry fully for at least 24 hours- longer, preferably. If you go over an artwork in a "damp" condition with fresh wet media such as a glaze, or with more paint, you run the risk of causing the paint already on the surface to smear, or for layers to loosen and tear off of the surface. If you have any doubts about the project you are planning to glaze, or touch up, being fully dry- leave it to dry as long as possible before glazing it.Brush care when using product: NEVER leave your brush sitting in product of any kind, but especially in thick, quick-drying mediums like this. Before you know it, the bristles near to the ferrule- the metal "collar" that holds the bristles onto the brush- will have dried stiff. Over time, this contributes to the brush becoming unusable, in a surprisingly quick fashion. Always- ALWAYS- rinse whatever brush you use with this, or any other acrylic paint or medium, in warm water IMMEDIATELY AFTER USING IT. Then put a blob of soap in your palm- I like Dawn- and massage the soap into the bristles. Do this for longer/more times than you think you have to, and then rinse again- for longer than you think you have to. Any tiny residue of product- which is liquid plastic- is going to coat your bristles, and build up, and your brush will start becoming stiff, with the bristles stuck together, and eventually you will have to just throw it away.This all sounds very remedial, but I have lost many good (and expensive) glazing/paint brushes by thinking "oh- I'll rinse them out in a few minutes." Once acrylic dries into brush hairs, it's there forever. (There are solvents that claim they will "bring your brush back to life" but these do not work, and are EXTREMELY toxic to use.) If you get lazy, realize you are probably just going to have to throw the brush away. I still have brushes from art college, in the early 90s. The longer you use a brush, the more it develops a wear pattern that corresponds with how you use it, and becomes more and more "personalized" by your use of it- like the wear on the nib of a fountain pen. My brushes seem like old friends.Overall, I am extremely pleased with the performance of the DecoArt Triple Gloss Glaze, and would happily purchase a larger container of it, if it was available. I've been painting for over thirty years, and I have never found a product that creates such a high-gloss, hard finish shine as quickly as this one does. I'm happy I found it, and am always going to keep it around.Forgot this: even though I was putting thick layers of this product over prior coats of acrylic, there was no crazing or cracking in the surface, at any stage. I’m not saying this product would/will never do this; just that under my particular circumstances, cracks in the surface did not occur.If I was glazing an acrylic painting with this product, I would try to first make sure the painting was COMPLETELY dry. This is tricky, as an acrylic painting can appear to be totally dry, when it is actually not. Also sometimes you have a client waiting for a piece, so you don’t have the luxury of leaving your paintings to dry for a month, and you need to glaze them just after completion so you can get them to the client.This is when surface cracking, or smearing or tearing, might occur.If I did get cracking on the surface of a painting, as some other reviewers did, I would try adding multiple layers of this glaze- letting the re-glazed painting dry at least overnight- to see if the glaze might “fill in” the cracks. I would continue to add layers until the cracks (hopefully) disappeared.This product also dries *very* hard- harder than any acrylic glaze I’ve ever worked with. So it MIGHT be possible- if the surface is thick enough, and is completely dry- to sand down the cracks, using very fine sandpaper (400-600.) After sanding, let the artwork sit overnight again. Then, add another layer of the DecoArt glaze.I have not had to deal with the cracking issue, but if a painting’s finish did show cracking, these are the steps I would take to try to fix the situation.Addendum: 6/4/2023I hadn’t used this glaze since I wrote the initial review. I had wrapped it in a plastic bag, secured with a rubber band, and put it on a shelf in my studio last year. But before I put it away-- I added some water to it, to ensure the glaze would still be usuable when I needed to use it again.The only problem is- it is now TOO liquid. I had only added a small bit of water, as the product had been getting very thick, before storing it. I was surprised the small amount of water I had added- less than a teaspoon- had changed it into a runny liquid. It is now a completely differently product from the original, thicker form. It is the consistency of water.I glazed something with it to test it out, and it still imparted a shiny finish, but the surface, after it dried, was completely crazed. Meaning, the entire surface was covered with what looked like tiny cracks in the coating. This was caused by me having thinned it down, I am certain. The larger volume of water in the product must have increased the evaporation rate, which then compromised the finish.I just ordered a brand new jar of DecoArt Glaze. I’m going to discard this runny batch, as I still have some polymer medium gloss for glazing that I can use before the DecoArt arrives that I know won’t craze (crack), and will be adequately shiny.There is nothing on the shelves in my studio that behaves like DecoArt Glaze- that has its viscosity, its hard-drying finish, and its super high shine. I won’t make the mistake again of adding water to it to thin it down, unless I am about to use up the final bit of it in the jar. I’m not sure why, but the weird reaction of the product turning into a runny liquid after the addition of water seemed to happen some time after I put it on the shelf. I won’t take the chance of adding water to it, closing the jar, and storing it, and would advise that you not add water to it and store it. I imagine you could decant a small amount of it and thin that small amount out with some water, but I would not add water to the main supply of product.I’m looking forward to getting that new jar. The finish I get with DecoArt is unique, and I’m happy it’s on its way.Thank you!

This is great, does a great job for certain things. A couple of use tips though:Don't use this on patterned gilt - it washes out the pattern if you try to do it in a single dip. Brushing on a thin coat first seems to work better, but I'm not continuing to use it for those pieces just in case.For anything that is painted onto plastic, you might want to dip rather than brush - it worked great when doing it that way, but got weird and absorbed the paint and made it messy when I used a brush. Also if you are decorating the plastic after painting - it worked best to use this after painting, then decorate, then put on a second coat.Other reviewers have stated it but I'll reiterate - let everything dry in between. Make sure whatever you are covering is fully dry, make sure this is fully dry before doing anything else and between coats. that took at least 12 hours, and I live in a very dry environment. I give it 18-24 hours or more between coats.It did a fantastic job keeping rhinestones in place and "sealing" them to the item, which is what I hoped for, and didn't alter the shine at all. It is completely transparent/clear. Does not mute anything.It did a great job really bringing out the shine on some metallic markers that I used on surfaces that weren't really showing the shine.It took three coats to get chunky glitter to be even close to non-pointy. I haven't tried dipping those yet.In general I have found you can get there faster with dipping than brushing if you have that option. Test surfaces first to make sure it won't impact it.Overall I highly recommend, but test everything on something you haven't put a ton of effort into before going all in on special pieces.

I do a bunch of diamond painting and this worked awesome at spreading around my painting with brush and drying fast. Diamonds are very secure on canvas and doesn’t seem to ever come loose at this time. There is no color it is clear so good to use on any project you might have that you want to stay together. Very low cost and great product. I would highly recommend

used it to cover some air dry clay project. easy to use with a brush. works best to add layers once fully dried between layers. it does leave a slight yellow tone. stacked finished and dried project after 2 weeks of drying and they stuck a little

Very strong sealant for making surfaces shiny. Just have to make sure that the top is clean before screwing back on, or it will stick and be hard to open and close.

Great product!