Make Your Own Antique Mirror
An antique mirror is a really great way to add a vintage feeling to your home, and it doesn’t take long at all.
All you need is:
- a mirror
- paint stripper
- a paint scraper
- muriatic acid (preferably spray, but you can always just pour it into your own spray bottle)
- spray paint (black or gold)
- a few towels
While you’re making this, especially when you are using the muriatic acid but also with the paint stripper, you should be wearing protective gloves, protective eyewear, and a ventilation mask.
Cover the area that you are working in with some towels or newspaper so that you don’t ruin it. If your mirror is framed, you’ll first want to take it out of the frame.
Next, put paint stripper on the back of the mirror and leave it long enough for the paint to loosen.
Using your scraper ( or a putty knife if you have one), take off the paint on the back of the mirror. Don’t damage the actual mirror.
Using a towel, clean the mirror off and make sure it’s dry.
Now spray the back of the mirror with the muriatic acid. Be careful with this step. You want to keep it on long enough to see that it’s working, up to a minute only. Just spray it on a few areas of the mirror so you don’t ruin the whole thing.
To remove the acid, just use a towel to dry it. Remove it when you see that the reflective backing is gone. After that you’ll want to rewash the back of the mirror and dry it again.
Paint the entire back of the mirror, one to give it the antiqued look, but also because it helps to keep the rest of the reflective backing from becoming loose. I’ve seen people use black or gold antique spray paint, so whichever you’d prefer. The front of the mirror should look like the picture.
Now just reassemble the mirror if it has a frame, and that’s it!
