Over time, many items break down or lose their attractive appearance; a mirror is no exception. Unfortunately, a broken product can only be disposed of. If minor damage appears on the surface, try to repair them at home.
Sometimes, due to insufficient air circulation or exposure to other adverse factors, the reflective layer begins to recede, and the mirror ceases to fulfill its main function. Also, small scratches and chips may appear on the surface, but do not rush and purchase a new product. If there is a desire and time, any home master can carry out restoration himself, extending the life of his beloved mirror. Self-repair can significantly save on the purchase of a new product and has several other advantages:
- restoration in a specialized company can be expensive, because it is a time-consuming and responsible process;
- not every city has a person who is professionally engaged in the restoration of reflective surfaces;
- it will take a lot of time to find the restorer, to deliver the item to him and back;
- during transportation there is a serious risk that the glass will break.
IMPORTANT!Do not use substances that can endanger human life and health, such as mercury! At home, it is permissible to use only safe improvised means.
Once again, pay attention to the fact that minor damage can be eliminated on your own, and entrust serious repairs to professionals. We'll talk more about how to improve the reflective surface with our own hands.
Experts note that any mirror must be carefully looked after, then its restoration will not be a problem for you. In a room with high humidity such as a bathroom, you should purchase a special reflective glass designed for use in such conditions so that spots do not appear on it over time. You can make the amalgam more wear-resistant yourself using folk recipes. To do this, it is treated with melted wax and turpentine in a ratio of 1: 2. In addition, you need to properly clean the mirror surface so that it does not lose its attractive appearance:
- dust is removed with a soft dry cloth;
- getting rid of dust, the mirror is treated with a special glass cleaner;
- at the end, the product is polished with newspapers, removing stains.
If, despite the observance of all conditions, small defects still appear, try to eliminate them using improvised means. The choice of materials and working methods will depend on the specific situation - extensive areas are restored with foil and glue, and with small scratches, silicone sealant is used. For the procedure, the workplace and the necessary tools should be prepared in advance.
Necessary materials and tools
For repairs, you may need:
- special glue designed for glass and metal;
- brush with hard bristles;
- foam sponge;
- soft napkins or cloth;
- glass detergent;
- composition for degreasing surfaces (gasoline or alcohol-containing agent);
- foil;
- scissors;
- brush;
- silicone sealant.
REFERENCE!A small restoration is easy to do at home. If, at the same time, minor damage cannot be completely eliminated, they will at least become less noticeable.
Instructions for the restoration of the mirror
When the workplace and all the necessary materials are ready, proceed with the repair. With visible damage to the amalgam, you first need to carefully pull the product out of the frame and put it on the table, which is better to lay with a soft cloth. Next, you should adhere to a certain algorithm of actions:
- we clean the damaged area with a brush with hard bristles;
- Next, you need to wash the mirror with a glass cleaner and dry everything;
- degrease the surface with an alcohol-containing agent and thoroughly wipe everything, let the product dry again;
- we cut out a piece of foil of the desired size with scissors (it should be slightly larger than the damaged area);
- we apply special glue, apply the cut foil to the mirror with the glossy side down and, as it should, press it (some masters use transparent adhesive tape instead of glue);
- gently align the foil with a clean, dry cloth or napkins and wipe off any excess glue;
- when after several hours the glue is completely dry, the restored mirror can be inserted into the frame.
ATTENTION!If the described method did not help remove visible defects, this may mean that the damage area is too large. In this case, it is unlikely that something will be fixed.
If desired, the glued place can be covered with a thin layer of colorless varnish for greater reliability, but this is not necessary.
How to repair a mirror if there are scratches and chips
To eliminate small scratches and chips on a fragile amalgam, a sealant is used. To do this, we also pre-clean and degrease the damaged area, wipe it dry with soft napkins. Next, carefully fill the existing cracks with silicone, for convenience you can use simple toothpicks. Then let the product dry well and remove all excess.
In the case when the mirror itself is in order, and its frame has lost its attractive appearance, try yourself as a designer. Original decorate the frame will help:
- different pebbles;
- shells;
- old jewelry.
The choice of materials will depend on your capabilities, imagination and interior style as a whole (the updated product should harmoniously fit into the overall picture).
Thus, the restoration of mirrors is a rather painstaking task, but the efforts made will still pay off, since you can extend the life of the damaged product. This is especially valuable if the item is antique and expensive as a memory. It must be remembered that some cases may be too serious, then, unfortunately, it will not be possible to independently solve the problem.
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