craft questions….Can you paper mache an item? Then paint it and finish it off with decoupage to prevent mold?
Suggested Reading:
The Repurposed Library: 33 Craft Projects That Give Old Books New Life We all love to read and learn from books, but The Repurposed Library takes our passion even further, presenting us with 33 projects to make--quite li... Read More >
Related Posts
make sure your paper mache dries fully before you paint it and there should not be a problem with mold. You can use a hair dryer to make it dry faster.
Preventing mold on a papier mached item would depend mostly on drying it thoroughly (which might take longer if doing items made from non-porous materials like glass or metal, etc), and probably keeping it dry from then on as well.
Various adhesive materials can be used to do papier mache with though, and if you’d use flour + water (instead of a thinned-down permanent white glue, liquid starch, polyurethane, etc.) as your adhesive, I guess water getting to the flour then not being able to dry could also cause mold.
In general, you want to thoroughly seal any material that’s porous to keep it from distorting/etc, from later contact with water or even humidity, and to keep out any bugs too if it’s made with a grain-based material (flour, etc.).
You can seal with any liquids that are permanent and waterproof themselves, clear or colored.
Colored acrylic or latex paints for example, are totally waterproof (once dry), as are various kinds of clear finishes like the ones mentioned above like thinned white glue, polyurethane, and some others.
When you say “paint and finish it off with ‘decoupage’,” I assume you mean with a “decoupage medium” such as ModPodge or Royal Coat. If so, they’re fine too but are basically just thinned down permanent white glues themselves.
Also if you’d already painted the papier mache thoroughly with *acrylic* or other permanent paint, the item would be sealed already and wouldn’t need further sealing (though you could do that if you wanted more gloss perhaps, etc.).