How to Stop Grout Bleed

This project is a stained glass Calla Lily on a clear acrylic that I will hang in the window. I found a pattern and cut all my glass pieces to fit in the shape of the calla lily.

I use my Gryphette Grinder a lot when doing projects like this in order to get smooth edges and since I like to lay my pieces close together, grinding them helps ensure a good fit between my pieces. I also use my Leponitts to remove extra glass, but this leaves jagged edges, so my grinder quickly takes care of that.

Now that I have smoothed all the edges, I put my pattern under my backer, and position all my glass pieces onto it to make sure they will fit where I want them to be.

Technique #1 – Applying Adhesive to Acrylics

I have set aside all the pieces and I at this time, I used GE Silicone glue. Now I am using Gorilla glue's clear, no foam adhesive, and an applicator to spread the glue over the areas that my glass will go on. I switched as Gorilla Glue works better for me. Then I place each piece onto the backer and press down to get a good, solid coverage of glue on them.

I then used my Leponitt wheeled cutters and nipped clear, green glass for my background and here is the piece with all the background glued down with Gorilla glue's clear, no-foam adhesive.

Technique #2 – How to Stop Grout Bleed

Grout bleed can be very frustrating after you've worked so hard to create a beautiful glass-on-glass mosaic. Here is an example:

To help stop grout from seeping under your glass, you need to make sure you get your glue all the way to the edges of your glass. But sometimes this doesn't always happen. So a good remedy for that is to use a Weld Bond Wash.

To make your weld bond wash, mix ½ water and ½ weld bond and I like to paint it on. I give it a good, generous coat and then wipe off the tops of the glass. You can see below where some of the weld bond wash ran under my glass even though I tried to coat all my glass.

A trick I used was to put it in my oven for a few minutes on a very low heat and this helped dry it up quicker.

After it had all dried clear, I used a gray grout. A trick I discovered in cleaning up my piece was to put it on my lightbox. This really allowed me to see where I needed to wipe and where to use my Skeewpicks to get rid of unwanted grout and glue.

Join me in my one-hour Live Webinar entitled GOG Mosaic Techniques for Tiffany-Style Glass Art and learn more about GOG/GOA techniques!

Here's one final tip. Join the Facebook group GOG Mosaics (glass on glass) to see what and how other artists are making art similar to this.