How to Etch a Wine Bottle

Wow your family and friends with this professional-looking personalized mishloach manos, or use mini grape juice bottles as place cards for your Purim seudah!

This is a cool project for the DIYers among you!

Method 1: with a Cricut machine

materials:
* Wine bottle or any glassware
* Cricut machine
* Removable vinyl (I like this one. Use that color that you still have lying around because you’re not actually going to use it on anything)
* Weeding tool
* Transfer tape
* Armour Etch glass etching cream
* Paintbrush
* Plastic gloves

1. In Design Space, create the text or design that you’d like to etch on your bottle. 

2. On the mat preview screen, move your design a little further into the mat so there is some space all the way around it. Place your vinyl on your mat, load it into the machine and cut your design.

3. Now, you want to weed out all the parts that make up the actual design, leaving the border on the backing paper. This is the opposite of what you would normally weed if you were simply putting this design onto something. Take care to leave the insides of letters behind.

4. Using your transfer tape, adhere the vinyl stencil you’ve created to your bottle. Wiping the bottle down with rubbing alcohol first will ensure that there is no dust, lint or fingerprints that may prevent the vinyl from adhering properly. Peel away the transfer tape and use your fingers to make sure all the inner edges are firmly stuck down. Note that unlike the regular application of vinyl, here you don’t have to worry about bubbles forming, and if your glass is curved and causes the vinyl to fold in places, that’s also fine, because the vinyl will be coming off. The only place you don’t want bubbles or folds is at the edges of the cut out areas, because then the etching cream can get underneath.

5. Put on your plastic gloves before opening the Armour Etch. It can cause burns that are not immediately visible or painful if it comes into contact with skin. Shake the bottle well, then, using your paintbrush, apply a layer of etching cream to your stencil, being very careful not to get any past the edges. While the bottle says to leave it on for 1-3 minutes, I’ve had better results leaving it on longer – at least five minutes. Halfway through, use the paintbrush to move the cream around in different directions.

6. Wash the cream off under running water (I like to use a bathroom sink since I don’t want any remaining chemicals coming into contact with utensils used for food; still make sure to wash out the sink well). Don’t worry if at first glance it looks like nothing has happened! Now you can discard your gloves, dry the bottle, and peel off your stencil carefully. You may find a weeding tool helpful to pick off small pieces such as the insides of letters.

All done! 

Method 2: no special machines needed

materials:
* Wine bottle or any glassware
* Alphabet (or any) stickers or Armour Etch over stencils.
* Masking tape
* Armour Etch glass etching cream
* Paintbrush
* Plastic gloves

1. If using stickers, cut out the stickers you plan on using, leaving as big a border around them as possible.

2. Peel off the actual stickers, leaving just the border.

3. Now peel these borders, and carefully place them (or your Armour Etch stencils) on your bottle in the arrangement of your choice. Wiping the bottle down with rubbing alcohol first will ensure that there is no dust, lint or fingerprints that may prevent the stickers from adhering properly.

4. Use masking tape to cover the areas in between and around the stickers (or stencils).

5. Follow the same directions as above to apply the etching cream to your bottle: wear gloves, leave it on for around five minutes, and move it around about halfway through.

Again, use the same directions to wash off the cream, then peel off the masking tape and stickers to reveal your design!

Optional:

An optional final step is to use Rub n Buff in a color of your choice to color your etching and make it stand out more. Rub n Buff does wash off over time (the actual etching is permanent), so it’s great for use on things like wine bottles and vases which aren’t washed too often, as opposed to glasses that are used daily. Glassware with Rub n Buff on it should be hand-washed for it to last longer, and it shouldn’t be used on surfaces that will come into contact with food.

Squeeze a tiny (really tiny, a little of this goes a loooong way) amount onto your finger (you may want to use gloves or a cloth since it can stain your finger slightly) and rub it into the etching, then buff it gently with a soft cloth. It will wipe easily off the smooth glass but remain in the etched area (if you leave it on for too long, it may be more difficult to get off the surrounding area).