Rich Art Window Paints

Hi - Any of you do window painting on the side? For holidays, store sales, etc... Have you used Rich Art brand window paints? I find them superb, but am new to 'em, so want to know any tips and tricks you may have. Thanks! Sally Milo http://www.milodesign.com Tucson, Arizona

When I've done this sort of thing, I used plain old poster paints with a bit of soapy water to help them adhere better. No one wants to have to scrub hard to remove these temporary window decorations and the soapiness assists in that effort too. Caveat: I painted on the INSIDE of the windows - not on the outside where weather can affect the 'art.'

Hi Mayo... Thanks for your input. I chose the Rich Art paints to stand up to the sun, heat and rare rain we have in Tucson. They are a pain to remove - lots of ammonia and scraping needed, but they are so durable and maintain their brilliance. I have to order online or have my mom pick 'em up for me in the Detroit area, as they're not available in AZ. I do paint on the outside of the windows, thus need for paints that will stand up to the elements. Thanks again. Sally Milo http://www.milodesign.com Tucson, Arizona

It's actually a perfect way of letting children amuse themselves when the weather is inclement. I have not even had problems with poster paint without soapy water - I'll try that in future.

Moira, the Faerie Godmother

One of my kids got to paint the windows for the Christmas season when she was working at Wendy's. She asked what to tell the manager to get for her to do it with, and I told her dry tempra paint and dish soap. Mix the tempra up with soapy water and it sticks to the windows just fine and washes off easily. Same concept as the poster paint, sometimes tempra is cheaper or is something you have kicking around if you do anything with kiddie art. What's freaky is I actually remembered that from way back when I was a kid in the 60's and all the shops downtown painted their windows during the holiday season. My grandpa used to let me paint on a mirror while he painted his windows.

Tempera is a more useful term than 'poster paint' I think. Thanks for correcting me.

Tempera, poster paint, gouache, distemper... are they not pretty much synonymous? Naturally, the quality of ingredients used remaining an important factor.

Jiri Borsky

I think so but I think the more generic term is probably 'tempera.'

But I thought 'distemper' was a disease in canines???

You thought correctly. It is.

It is also: 'a technique of painting in which the pigments are mixed with water, glue, size, etc., used for poster, mural, and scene painting.'

Two meanings. (Collins ED, 1986 edition).

Jiri Borsky

Perhaps they are. I just usually think of poster paints as a premix containing conditioners. Probably just one of those stuck in the head not necessarily so things. Gouache on the other hand I would take completely out of that group. My concept of it is a totally different formulation than tempera. But then fine art tempera is also different in formulation from the instant kiddie tempera. It all comes down to 'pigment mixed with some stuff' as a kid told me once. (G)

Thanks - this old canine is never too old to learn a few new things.

I found it an amazing thing that there are absolutely no videos on Rich Art Window Paints. It is also difficult to acquire ammonia for Rich Art paint removal. Someone suggested a Pet Store (fish tank cleaner) and also ammonia might be obtained at Ace Hardware. I am off this morning to remove an Rich Art window painted window splash and with much trepidation. I didn't have ammonia before and I was asked to remove someone elses window painting and it took me three hours and I compromised several razor blade holders to do it. Today I am taking the rest of it off and I will be going to Ace Hardware in the hopes they have ammonia. I have been doing window splashes for years and used Rich Art about 15 years ago, A sign professional tuned me into Day-Glo brand alkyd based fluorescent enamels. This with a pure white latex background and you can make eye popping window splashes. Add regular dish detergent to the white latex about 15% to 20% detergent to white latex so it will be easier to scrape off later with a razor blade. I choose this method over Rich Art. Rich Art just complicates removal. When I first used it years ago the store owner had kids remove it and they used a paint removing tool. The scratches in the window are still there today. Another good thing to know is that you can take Day-Glo fluorescents and just add a little white alkyd or oil based enamel to them. In this way you can bypass the white latex background altogether if you are in a hurry or it is just needed for a few days. It isn't as bright without the white latex background and looks a little pastel but it paints on the glass well, especially if you use soft haired lettering brushes, I mainly use squirrel hair quills, especially when doing car lot windshields and a 1" wide lettering flat which has a squirrel har blend. The Day-Glo quarts also go a long way too.

Hi, I've read a few comments. I'd like to throw a trick out to ya. As far as cleaning! The bomb {trick} to getting it off of the windows is----drumb roll please---------"OVEN CLEANER" go to the dollar general store $1.oo a can. Big thing is make sure you wear rubber gloves, safety glasses, regular razor blade scraper, and elbow grease. It really is much easier. Things to do -spray on window-let sit about 1 min. DONT LET IT HIT THE PANE OF THE WINDOW,as it will ruin most any paint on pane excluding white paint, and aluminum. It will turn the black paned windows. Another biggy is have a box, bucket whatever to throw the rich art into after scraping. ALWAYS SCRAPE UPWARD MOTIONS. Try it

Amazing tips. We have searched and searched for these answers. Many phone calls. Honest and, tricky ones! Trying to get someone to help us figure out how to clean our windows (after we paint them) We realize, our window painting business is going to survive off of repeat business. Who is going to want to have us back to paint, if it was this painfull to remove?? THANK YOU- Bakersfield, Ca.

I recently used Rich Art Window paint on a showroom window. It held up beautifully outside (in Michigan), but found ammonia to be ineffective in removing it later. I bought a spray bottle of latex paint remover at the hardware store (about $8.00) which worked quite well. I did have to scrape, but the paint was soft and came off easily. It even worked on the aluminum frames around the glass.
My only complaint was that the paint is somewhat transparent and I had to use two coats for good coverage.

I use a little evaporated milk with my white latex base coat. let thoroughly dry before putting on color coat. the milk helps the work hold up in rainy weather (I live in Oregon). Use a soapy sponge for removal. let soap sit on painted area for a couple minutes then scrape upwards with a wide razor blade (the 4" wide kind) and have a bucket close by to drop scrapings in to. DO NOT paint over metal window mullions. Use 2" masking tape to keep paint off window trim...you'll be glad you did come time to remove painting later.
If you thin you Rich Art paints, use evap milk and a drop of water. Do not touch up your strokes until color is dry or it will come off your base coat.

That's about it. Have fun!