Baby Casting Tips: Preventing Discoloration and Fading in Hand Cast Decorations

How to stop Baby Hand & Foot Casts discolouring and fading

I had an enquiry from a duo of Life Casters this week, who said that they were having some problems decorating baby hand and feet casts. They use two different brands of Guilding Wax to decorate their baby casts and achieve an antiqued faux-gold and bronze patina.  However, they have had a few issues, with the gold and bronze, almost completely fading and disappering off of the casts. This has happened on a few occassions and with casts that they had only painted and decorated, just a few weeks prior.

First of all, I cannot comment on the brand of guilders wax that they had used as it is not one that I have personally used or have experience with.  My prefered brand for decorating baby casts is Baroque Art Brand.  Regardless, the most common cause of fading and discolouraton, is either because they have faded from UV light over time,  or more commonly, because there is stll moisture in the plaster or it has not been fully sealed, resulting in the pigment becoming absorbed. 

Hand Casting Decoration

There are a number of reasons why it is absolutely vital that you ensure your baby hand and foot casts are thoroughly dry, with no moisture remaining.  The first most important one, is that if you add paint to damp plaster, you be applying a skin over the surface of the plaster casts, which will trap moisture in and prevent it from evaporating.  As a result the moisture wil seep into the surface.  This will then, generate mould to form, which may discolour your casts, turning them green or causing the pigment in the wax to fade, lift off or become absorbed.

Baby Casting Tips to avoid Mould Spores and Discoloration

In order to prevent the issue of mould spores forming and discoloration, follow these Baby Hand & Foot Casting tips:

1. Leave your baby hand and foot casts to dry, at an even room temperature, if possible, where they are exposed to the open air.  (Do not enclose your plaster baby casts within a box or confined space, which would prevent moisture from escaping from the plaster and evaporating).
2. Leave your casts to dry for at least a couple of weeks. Depending upon the size of your baby hand and foot casts, where you store them, the weather conditions, time of year and humidity, they may take upto a month or more to fully dry out.
3. You can speed up the drying out process, by placing them at the bottom of an airing cupboard, or somewhere warm.
4. After you have left your casts to dry for the minimum amount of time, check that they are 100% dry, with no moisture remaining.
5. The best way to check that the plaster is dry, is to use a piece of sanding paper, to sand the base of the cast.  If the sanding process creates a fine dust of plaster, your plaster is dry.  However, if it leaves a sticky residue on your sandpaper, there is still moisture remaining in the baby Casts. In this case, leave them to dry a while longer, until they are fully dry.
6. Once you are sure that your baby casts are fully dry, you can begin the process of painting and decorating your baby casts.
7. Cut your hand and feet casts down to size and prepare for framing and mounting, in the usual way, then apply your base coat of acryllic paint.
8. Next, it is time to add your wax patina. If your gilders wax has dried out or become, dusty or flaky, try adding a tiny bit of turpentine to it.  This will help to reconstitute it and make it easier to apply.
9. Load the required amount of wax onto a piece of soft sponge and blot off any excess wax onto a piece of card or paper.
10. Next apply the wax gently and evenly to the baby cast in a soft, small circular motion, to avoid creating patches, stripes or sponge marks.
11. Less is usually more. It is better to gradually build up the layers of wax, but if apply too much, it can be difficult to remove.
12. So long as your plaster is fully dry and you have applied a sufficient amount of wax, this should act as a sealant to the plaster.
13. However, if you wish, spray the cast with a matt or gloss varnish of your choice for extra protection.  This will aslo protect against fading from UV light.

I hope that these tips on how to decorate baby casts have been helpful, but if you require extra help and professional guidance, please check out our series of professional Life Casting Courses.

If you would like further information about how to start your own Baby Life Casting Business or Keepsake Jewellery Business, please download my FREE guides below.