How to Do a Crackle Technique on Furniture

The antique look is a popular furnishing trend. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford real antiques. Consequently, they look for ways of giving their own furniture the look without the price attached to it. This can be done my using sandpaper to scrape away some of the furniture's finish or by giving furniture a crackled finish.

Things You'll Need

• Furniture pieces
• Paint
• Crackle
• Clear acrylic overcoat
• Paint brushes
• Drop cloth

Instructions

1. Determine which pieces of furniture to crackle. In particular, choose items that can be painted. Although the technique will generally work on an existing finish, it works better when it has fresh paint on which to adhere.

2. Make the purchases necessary to complete the process. Buy paint only if the furniture requires it. Otherwise, stick to clear acrylic and the crackle finish.

3. Lay drop cloths under the area where painting and crackling will take place. If possible, however, do the process in a garage or an outside area.

4. Clean the furniture thoroughly before attempting the technique. Make sure it is thoroughly dry before moving on to the next step.

5. Paint the furniture if needed. Be sure the furniture is thoroughly dry before moving to the crackling technique.

6. Apply a clear acrylic overcoat on furniture that isn't to be repainted. This step is important when you are working with wood varnishes rather than painted surfaces. Make sure the furniture is thoroughly dry before moving on to the crackling phase.

7. Apply one or more coats of the crackling finish to the prepared furniture. The more coats applied and/or the thicker the coat, the smaller the crackling design will be. Be sure each coat is evenly spread throughout the surface part of the furniture and anywhere else where you desire a crackle finish.

8. Examine the crackle finish once it is completely dry. Decide if additional coats of crackle finish are needed to achieve the look desired.

9. Apply one or more additional coats of crackle until you are satisfied with the final outcome. Once that is achieved, move on to the next step.

10. Lock in the crackle finish by applying a final, thin coat of clear acrylic overcoat.

Tips & Warnings

• Use good quality paintbrushes to ensure that hairs from the brush do not get stuck in the paint, acrylic or crackle. Use a different paintbrush for each type of finish: paint, clear acrylic and crackle. You can use foam paintbrushes to apply crackle but they are not recommended for the paint or clear acrylic. Choose a location to paint where the furniture will not be exposed to the elements. Cold weather will require a longer drying time for each applied finish.

• Don't apply crackle over pre-finished wood varnishes. While it might crackle slightly, it isn't likely to achieve a true antique look without a fresh coat of paint or acrylic to adhere to. Be sure each coat of finish is thoroughly dry before moving on to the next coat. Otherwise the crackle finish may not work at all.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish