# Painting embossed lettering?



## vintage57 (Sep 29, 2012)

What's the general opinion on this? I have a few straight sides that are cloudy enough to need the embossment painted. I resisted because of altering the bottle. One is special because it is a ss Coke from my hometown. If you paint, what color do you use? I know I could use any color. I suppose white would be best for Coke. Do you use a special paint or some kind of marker? Use a paintbrush? The city lettering is awfully small and close-spaced.

 So, please post your opinion on the subject as I figure your fellows are more experienced than me. I've been more of a Coca-Cola/soda collector than a bottle collector. By that I mean I've collected most everything else not so much bottles.

 Thanks.
 Terry Buchheit
 Perryville, MO


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## ratbastard (Sep 29, 2012)

i don't paint my embossed bottles for the simple fact i like my bottles all original.


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## epackage (Sep 29, 2012)

Elmer's Paint Sticks, any craft store will have them. Your bottle will look great if you take your time, and it really makes the embossing POP. I hate when I se a shelf full of bottles that don't even look like they have embossing or that you can't tell the difference between the bottles without having to go and pick them up and inspect them...

*The three amber bottles on the shelf are all different but it would be nearly impossible to know that without pulling them off the shelves, which I don't want people doing considering their value*


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## epackage (Sep 29, 2012)

Paint stick...


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## SODAPOPBOB (Sep 29, 2012)

I've used "White Out" which I experimented with and discovered it washes off later if desired. However, I like epackage's idea *better* even though I have never tried it. I also agree with epackage in that I like to see what's what without having to handle them. 

 SPB


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## UncleBruce (Sep 29, 2012)

I paint.  It has always been my preference since I first started collecting.  Even before I met any other collectors or joined any clubs.  Other bonuses besides highlighting the embossing for shelving are it aids in photography and now that my eyes are starting to dim I don't need glasses to tell them apart.  Very enjoyable.  If you have a dishwasher run your bottle through a cycle.  I recommend the Elmers white.  Get one in fine and medium tips.  Have a paper towel or two handy.  Also a toothpick can be used to clean excess and add detail to embossed pictorials.  If the embossing is very rough I recommend dipping in acrylic floor wax.  It is none yellowing, clear and will keep the paint out of the crevices making removal easier should you choose to do so later.


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## blobbottlebob (Sep 29, 2012)

Don't do it.

 I hate it when someone is selling one with that stuff on it. It is impossible to get that crud off. Everyone always insists it washes away with water but in reallity it gets into the micro-pores of the glass and will not come off without chemicals.


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## cyberdigger (Sep 29, 2012)

So, Terry, I guess you can see by now there is no 'general opinion' about painting embossing.. it's a personal choice.. []


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## andy volkerts (Sep 29, 2012)

[8D] I sure wouldnt put a $300.00 or more expensive bottle in a dishwasher either........


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## epackage (Sep 29, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  blobbottlebob
> 
> Don't do it.
> 
> I hate it when someone is selling one with that stuff on it. It is impossible to get that crud off. Everyone always insists it washes away with water but in reallity it gets into the micro-pores of the glass and will not come off without chemicals.


 Comes right off with nail polish remover everytime without any left behind...[]


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## UncleBruce (Sep 29, 2012)

Not everyone minds the highlighting.  It is a personal preference as Cyberdigger states so astutely.    I have never had anyone ask me to remove paint and had no complaints, though for the majority of bottles I sell are unpainted only because painting takes time and I reserve that for my collection (lazy?!), but if it is painted I don't mess with removing it.

 Dishwashers sure make cleaning easy.  I have put $1000+ bottles through a cycle and never had problems with any bottle.  Very clean when done, which is a nice pallet for painting.  I don't use the heated dry though.  Again this is personal preference.  I do a lot of them by hand too, especially if they are exceptionally dirty.

 In other words Terry, collect what you like, and if you like them painted, go ahead and paint.  They will not be hurt one bit.  If you decide to part with them and they are still painted give Jim or myself a shot first, we like them that way!  []


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## RICKJJ59W (Sep 29, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  ratbastard
> 
> i don't paint my embossed bottles for the simple fact i like my bottles all original.


 

  Word=======[]I hate painted embossing


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## bottleopop (Sep 29, 2012)

A few years ago I bought a few kinds of craft paint from a craft store and painted up 2 or 3 kinds of deco bottles just to see what they would look like.  This is different from the question of just painting lettering; I painted the different parts of the design different colors.

 Some of the craft paints were transparent colors and some were opaque.  I didn't use any oil-based paints since I wanted to be able to wash the bottles off with water and detergent after I was finished.  Some of the paints did not adhere all that well to the glass and some looked too thin and vague.

 The bottles looked pretty good and I found that some had a lot more detail than I realized before attempting to paint them.  After a few days of having them on a shelf, I cleaned them off.  The cleaning was not a problem at all.

 Once I bought a non-acl bottle on ebay that had been painted with black paint on just some of its lettering.  I had quite a time getting it off.  It was obviously done by a collector/seller, not a manufacturer and none of the design was painted.  As I recall, I used a brass brush and lighter fluid and goof-off and fingernail polish remover to get it off.  It finally all came off ok and I didn't see any damage on the bottle's lettering where it was.

 A few years ago, I bought an amber embossed chocolate soldier bottle that someone had painted on one side.  Whoever it was did a very good job and it has several colors.  I left the paint on since I have a better-condition chocolate soldier bottle.  The paint on the bottle looks like oil-based model paint.

 The bottles I tried painting were in very good condition without any frosted wear.  I'd be somewhat afraid to paint frosted-worn lettering without doing some removal testing after a couple months of time.  Many, or even most, paints don't just dry - they polymerize or at least become a different chemical after their water or solvent leaves.  After they do that, they don't all come off so easily with scrubbing and solvents because they are now a different chemical than they were in the bottle.  The paint can get into very tiny wear-crevices or microscopic pits and be difficult to get out.

 In my opinion, painting parts of good condition bottles would probably be OK for taking a photo or for a short display for a few days or months.  However, I don't recommend leaving paint on for years unless you're totally sure of its effects.  As we all know, the ground can take glass off a bottle (frosting it); some soils more than others.  A paint could possibly do the same thing over a long period of time.


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## splante (Sep 29, 2012)

kinda reminds me of the tumble or not to tumble debate....


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## UncleBruce (Sep 30, 2012)

[]  Great insight Steve!


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## fishnuts (Sep 30, 2012)

My .02 on this topic...imho, I do not paint any embossed bottles.  I feel that as they were manufactured without benefit of paint or embellishment, that is how they should display.  Would you want an original Auburn Boat-tail roadster, or a re built, repainted one?  Okay, I'd take either, too...but, you get the idea.

 However, (you knew there would be one) I will augment faded colors on my acls.  Especially older faded Ark. bottles, on my shelves forever,  probably no one would ever care about, save few.  As we all do "It's my display/collection, I'll do it like I want" as the rule of the day.

 I note, though, that the question was regarding deco bottles...
 Photos shown seem to all be hutch style, blobs, slugs and other pre-deco vintage styles.  Augmenting a deco soda could be quite a bit of work with all the features so prominately showing art deco designs.  These designs were built to  for the medium to NOT have paint...even when paint became available many 'deco' designs lasted well into the Fifties and beyond.  To me it would be a sin to glob them up with anything not original to the bottle makers design.  If your decos don't POP enough you may be getting the wrong bottles as most, if not all, decos can be identified by their shape/design.
 Even for us old eyes types...


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## bottleopop (Oct 3, 2012)

Since I mentioned it, I figured I'd post the photo of the deco Chocolate Soldier that somone had painted, even though this topic is about painting the lettering on SS bottles; sorry.

 I don't know who painted this and when.  This stitch has both sides of the same bottle.  I held it up with my fingers and cropped them out.


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