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Gold Foil Touch Ups

Hello all, I am a fashion designer (leather, apparel and home) in California. One of my specialties are leather totes with our logo debossed in gold foil. Can anyone please give advice as to how to fix a poor foil deboss on uneven leather (croc, etc.) and to touch up old logo debosses? When I went over a second time with a new press and foil, it became sloppy as it wasn't exactly in the same spot. Does anyone know of a good way to do this by hand? I was thinking of heating up some hand tools and touching up the spots. But I know I am not the only one who has experienced this. Advice welcome!

12 comments

12 Comments

Books

Jul 28, 2023

We do alot of blocking in both real gold and faux gold foils. A few things to check before you block: 1) some leathers need 'paste washing' before they are happy to accept blocking or gold tooling. (I am a bookbinder by trade). Do say if you need to know how to do this. 2) any type or block you use must first be polished to a high shine. I use a polishing pad that is easy to make.

Please say if you need any of this explained in more detail. I was trained by an 'old guy' who did his apprenticeship as a gold finisher.

Books

Jul 29, 2023

Replying to

PASTE WASHING : Another trick from bookbinding: Use either Japanese starch paste OR powdered Rex (simple wallpaper paste). 1) Make up a small amount 2) dampen either a wad of cotton wool or natural sponge 3) on a piece of heavy paper, use more water and smoosh the paste into a 'very' liquid consistency. 4) carefully use the dampened sponge/wad to smooth over the leather. 5) using the palm of your hand gently rub over the leather surface to help it dry off and also help the pastey liquid into any crevices in the leather surface. DO EXPERIMENTS ON LEATHER PIECES FIRST. As my mentor used to say, "DON'T PRACTICE on the ACTUAL FINISHED PIECE" (please let me know if this helps with your blocking!)