I was doing a little research on drilling beach glass and discovered an incidental piece of advice that actually changed everything. It’s a whole new ball game. Apparently, if you rub sea glass with a little olive oil and polish it back off with a cloth, it freaking well glows. Allow me to demonstrate:
These are some colour combos I was working out on my bench. Probably, these pieces are too small to successfully wrap together, but by heck I’m’a gonna try! Now, take a look at the exact same pieces after the olive oil treatment, in the same spot with the same overhead lighting and the same camera settings:
These are in no way greasy or wet, but just LOOK at them! The oil has completely removed the salt residue (which I could not get rid of no matter the amount of soap) and left an amazing glowy surface instead which allows the glass to light up from the inside.
Game-changing.
This is great news. I too am obsessed with beach glass and have quite a collection. I have always wondered how people eliminated the dull finish without doing something drastic like spraying it with varithane or using a rock polisher which then looks fake. Thank you for sharing.
Hilary