How to Remove Frosted Glass Spray or Coating

So I decided to frost the glass on my kitchen cabinets using (first) Rustoleum's Frosted Glass Spray paint, and then over that, I brushed Liquitex artist's matte medium (post is here: http://lipstickandabradnailer.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-to-frost-glass-cabinets.html). 


Then I decided that I didn't want the frosted glass anymore. It's just that my kitchen has a traditional look to it, and I thought the frosted glass made it look more modern, and thus out of place. Here is how it looked:

So the Rustoleum Frosted Glass spray paint and the artist's matte medium are both removeable. If you have used etching cream to frost the glass or if you have bought frosted glass that was professionally frosted, that is permanent, and this method of removal will not work for you. 


I just left the cabinets hanging, and I sprayed water on the glass (I had frosted the back of the glass on the inside of the cabinet) to soften the frosted coating some. I also read somewhere that spraying water on the glass beforehand lessens the chances that you will scratch the glass when you use the scraper. Then I bought this handy dandy glass Stanley glass scraper at Wal-mart for less than $3. It has a wide blade.

The wide blade worked so easily to remove this coating. This did not scratch my glass (which is not safety or tempered glass, by the way). You have to press down firmly, though, to get it to come off well. The coating that comes off is kind of like plastic wrap. Here is a better pic of it:

It came off very easily with little mess. I recommend using a removeable method if you are going to frost glass, since you may change your mind someday and not want it anymore or at least not want the pattern you originally had on it. Here is my glass after I removed all the frosted glass coating:

Much better until I decide what I want to do with the glass!!

How to Frost Glass (Cabinets)

When I was researching buying glass inserts for our kitchen cabinets, I came across some blogs which featured people frosting the glass in their kitchen cabinets themselves. It seemed this would be the way to go!  It would be much cheaper than buying glass that is already frosted, and I could change out the pattern someday, if I wanted. I felt I needed frosted glass to disguise any cabinet clutter.

So I went to Lowe's with the measurements for the glass pieces I needed. I needed 9 pieces for the upper cabinets. Lowe's will cut the glass for you to size (it's not tempered or safety glass, though). Since I bought upper cabinet doors already prepared for glass (with no middle), I would just have to set the glass into my cabinet frame and then caulk it in place with clear caulk. I think I paid about $60 for all 9 pieces of glass for my cabinets, which I consider pretty cheap.

I then read about this Rustoleum Frosted Glass spray paint which would make the glass look frosted, but it can be removed at a later date if you want to change out the frosted glass pattern. This seemed like a miracle product! So I decided I wanted to do 3" squared down the front of my door. I traced them onto contact paper, then I cut out the contact paper. I stuck the contact paper on the glass where I wanted it. Then I sprayed the glass with the frosted glass spray paint (outside). This was messy and smells horrible!! In fact, I decided to wear an oxygen mask because I was certain I was going to get cancer from all these fumes! Seriously, people. Read the Material Safety Data Sheet on this product on the internet. Yikes! It might be a miracle product, but I felt I was going to become seriously ill from using it! I did so many coats, yet it looked uneven, there were drips, and it didn't cover to my liking. I needed more.


Then I saw someone else on the internet who frosted his door using artist's matte medium (bought at a craft store). I decided to try it. I bought the brand Liquitex. I reattached the 3" squares I made from contact paper onto my glass pieces and rolled on the matte medium with a thin, smooth foam roller. No ghastly smell, no cancer-causing ingredients, and it was easy and quick. In fact, I did this while the doors were actually hanging on my cabinets. (So you don't have to remove all the cabinet doors, yay, easy!!)  You just have to be careful not to be messy while rolling it on. I just rolled over where I had previously sprayed the frosted glass spray paint. It evened out the finish and made it look great. It even filled in the drip marks where the spray paint had dripped on the glass. Here's how my glass looked when I was done:

Super easy and fun!!