r/kintsugi • u/mcintyre236 • Jul 20 '26

Help Needed - Urushi Finishing Options

What are some other food safe options to use instead of gold powder? I was hoping for some not metal options if they exist.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

7

u/SincerelySpicy Jul 21 '26

You can finish without any metal and just a final layer of urushi. Black and red are both common enough but you can get urushi pre-pigmented in lots of other colors too.

2

u/benjamin-crowell Jul 21 '26

SincerelySPicy wrote:

but you can get urushi pre-pigmented in lots of other colors too

I think most beginners who haven't seen what colored urushi looks like when it's cured would be disappointed. Honsyu red is the only really one that comes out bright and vivid.

mcintyre236 wrote:

I was hoping for some not metal options if they exist.

It's not that easy to find non-metallic powders that work. Traditionally, urushi artists have also used non-powder substances such as egg shells. If you google on "maki-e," you can see a bunch of beautiful examples, but those effects are quite difficult to achieve.

6

u/SincerelySpicy Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

I think most beginners who haven't seen what colored urushi looks like when it's cured would be disappointed. Honsyu red is the only really one that comes out bright and vivid.

You can get most colors to come out quite vivid, just not ultra bright whites or colors near that. It's a matter of curing parameters, though I will admit that it takes a lot of experimentation, and blues and purples are particularly difficult.

1

u/mcintyre236 Jul 21 '26

Thank you, I will definitely start from here, I have a lot more research ahead of me.

1

u/dorje_makes Jul 21 '26

What parameters do you change? I have to admit I ignorantly threw myself in the deep end with a blue that I thought looked rubbish!

2

u/SincerelySpicy Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

There are a few different curing schemes you can follow to do it, but overall the trick is to cure it slooooooowly.

Some people start curing at low humidity then move it up to normal curing parameters after one to a few days, while others cure at low humidity for the entire time. Some cure at lower temperatures as well while others do so at normal temperatures but just low humidity. You'll need to experiment to figure out what works best for you, but keep in mind that it can take several weeks to several months to fully cure certain colors with minimal darkening.

1

u/dorje_makes Jul 21 '26

ok thanks. I'll experiment... Of course the two colours I bought to try out are blue and white haha

2

u/SincerelySpicy Jul 21 '26

White, keep in mind that it won't ever be pure white after curing. I've gotten white urushi to be fairly pale between beige and off-white though. Absolutely pure white urushi.....there is just one maki-e craft family that is able to do it in in their decorative work, but they keep their method to getting it that color a closely guarded trade secret, and I have never seen anyone else be able to replicate it.

1

u/dorje_makes Jul 22 '26

Yes, I realised I had been naive -  I was buying supplies and spontaneously added those two colours without doing any research, because I have a blue and white teapot I want to repair as unobtrusively as possible. I may experiment more with the blue but I think the white was a mistake...

Maybe they sprinkle something like titanium oxide into the last layer?

3

u/SincerelySpicy Jul 22 '26

Pigment powders are probably too fine to do the maki-e method. Maybe try grinding some eggshells in a coffee grinder, sieving it to an even particle size and using that as if you're using maru-fun metal powder. It probably won't be pure white because you'll still see the urushi between the particles but it may get you as pale as possible.

1

u/mcintyre236 Jul 29 '26

Thanks for the guidance everyone, I've done a good amount of research and found some options while researching maki-e. I'm going to test them over my next few personal projects.
I am making/have made the following into a powder white eggshells, brown eggshells, 1:1 white and brown eggshells(for color variation), seashells and ivory black(going to be a weekend project after meal prepping).
I couldn't find any other sources that point to known food safe alternatives so if I try others they will be decorative until proven otherwise.

2

u/Distinct_Elevator361 Jul 21 '26

But you’re using traditional method?

1

u/mcintyre236 Jul 21 '26

Yes, using the traditional method, just curious about alternatives to gold that are food safe.