On some bottles I have traced the lettering with a Sharpie. Over time I note the ink/marker disappears and the embossing is like it was originally. Can anyone here recommend a type of marker that will not fade with time?
I have only ever had them in a book case never on windows or back lit so can't say for sure.@UncleBruce:
Wow - I am very appreciative of this great set of detailed instructions! At present the one I want to highlight is Buffalo Lithia Water I recently got and was thinking only the lettering, but now you have me thinking I could try the seated woman effigy as well.
In the past I have done a lot of highlighting with sharpies on glass insulators in my collection, so am familiar with being able to get just the lettering (well...obviously an occasional oops!). A technique that was shared with me by a fellow insulator collector, that he said he learned from a bottle collector, is to stipple the marker along the top edge of the lettering instead of drawing/painting the ink onto the letters. The stippling wokrs VERY well for me and makes it harder to make an oops by slipping off the top of the letters. It works well with weak embossing also.
I asked for better advice on the pens used b/c I get tired of having to re-do my insulators every year or so! Again, thank you very much.
@UnderMiner
Wow - that is a beautiful lineup. I like how it looks on the monograms. Since insulators only have lettering, this will be a new area for me to explore with.
I was thinking of using a dark marker like I always have for light colored glass, but now am seeing where the white shows up very well also.
When the bottle is in a window or backlit, how does the white vs. a black paint show up?
Uncle Bruce has all the tips you need to perform this task. I must note though that I never use bar keepers friend or copper brushes on finely polished or mint glass. Both will leave fine scratches on the surface.
Also, in addition to paint markers, I use permanent black sharpie on milk glass, and silver or gold sharpie metallic markers on other colors. The sharpie markers are not as durable as the paint markers and can be removed with 91% isopropyl alcohol. Choose based on your needs.
Thanks Leon. I chose select examples from my collection and highlighted the embossing just so they would show up better for bottle show advertising photos. Most of these examples are from sets, and I would never take the time to do them all.Some nice Bottles you got there. Leon.