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Sealing your diamond painting. What sealer to use?

Sealing your diamond painting will lock all of the diamonds in place and significantly increase the longevity of your finished project. If you plan to hang your diamond painting or preserve for a long time, it’s crucial you first seal your finished painting.

Do I definitely need to use the sealer for diamond painting?

Usually, the canvas is of made high quality and has super adhesive glue. On one hand, if the adhesive layer is fully covered by diamond drills, the adhesive is not affected by air pollution. Moreover, ordinary airflows are unable to dry-up the glue if the layer is fully covered. On another hand, many diamond painting lovers recommend you seal the diamond painting. Because sealing will make an extra protection layer on your artwork. And I cannot disagree with them. As time goes, everyone wants that their diamond painting would look like as the completed it today. The sealing diamond painting will help you to achieve this task. Also, if you give a diamond painting as a gift to someone you love, you need that the painting would remain long as perfect as on the day of giving.

I accidentally made small personal experiment. Firstly, I prepared the diamond painting for sealing: I flattened the canvas, ensured, that all drills were in place and just did not have to put the glue. I hanged the canvas in a closet for next day. And the some days after I had to repeat the whole process, because some diamond drills had popped out from their places :(.

Types of sealers

There are two types of sealers: sealers that can be applied by sprays and sealers that can be applied by brushes.

Brush-on sealers are the best sealing solution to prevent your diamond painting from any type of damage and this will definitely increase the life span of your diamond painting. You can choose shiny or Matt brush on the sealer that is all your choice.

They are water-resistant, dustproof, also you can mount your diamond painting without the glass frame. There are some disadvantages. Your diamond painting will lose some shine after sealing. You won’t be able to roll up your painting.

Spray sealer is totally different from the brush-on sealer. These are used to give a crystal clear and shiny finish to the diamond painting. But they do not fill the spaces between the diamonds like the brush-on sealers. Spray sealers help you to make your diamond sparkle for a long time. They are waterproof, dries quickly and can roll up the finished canvas. There some shortcomings, that I must mention: the gaps between the diamond drills will not be fully filled and sealer is less dust resistant.

How to Seal Diamond Painting?

Here is a short step-by-step process.

Set all the diamonds properly
This is a must-do step for each of your diamond painting. As I mentioned in the Tips and tricks article, you should put some weight on the Diamond painting for a night or you can use a roller, glass or jar to flatten out the canvas. You should ensure that all of your diamond drills are completely flat and locked properly on the canvas. You may try iron the back first, then roll. The heat equalizes the glue under the diamond drills and turns it to more adhesive.
Remove the extra wax and dust particles between the diamond drills. You can do this by first scrubbing a toothbrush or using a fuzzy cloth to get in between the cracks.
Dip the brush tip in the sealer jar
Open the Sealer jar. Dip your paintbrush in the glue and paint a generous layer on top of your painting – but not too much, as it could reduce the shine of your painting. You can use any painting brush of 2-inch size or any other size according to your diamond painting size. You can use just about any type of brush – foam or bristle. I use very simple brush from my daughter’s school supplies :).
Apply the sealer on the diamond painting
This is the last step in diamond painting sealing with a brush-on sealer. Start applying the sealer on the diamond painting. Apply a thick layer of the sealer, that it would cover all the surface. If you apply a thin layer in order to preserve the shining effect, you may lose a quality of sealing. Use the brush in different directions to fill all the gaps between the diamond drills. Do not water it down, use the original condition of sealer. At first, it will look like glue but it will be more transparent when it dries properly.
Leave it overnight.
It takes a little time for the glue to dry. Leave it for a night or day. If you still had doubts about the white-glue-look of the sealer, you will be impressed with it the next day. The sealer will become transparent and the shiness of the diamond drills will remain.
Hang your Diamond Painting
It’s time to showcase your artwork. After the sealer dries you can hang this painting or give it as a gift to someone you live.

This method has proven by many users to be the easiest and best for diamond painting.

Which sealer to choose?

After many tries, I am choosing nothing else just Super Gloss Mod Podge. You can find it in various craft shops, Amazon, etc. Also, there are more types of Mod Podge. All Mod Podge formulas are essentially the same in that they can all do three things. They are all good for gluing, sealing and finishing. The Mod Podge not only the glue bus also a sealant and it also doesn’t yellow with time. The liquid Mod Podge there is an insignificant smell but it’s weaker in comparison to a high gloss spray and only lasts for a little while.

Don’t freak out when Mod Podge goes on milky or opaque on your diamond painting. It dries clear and shiny. Once it cures you can wipe it gently with a damp cloth to clean.

You may find Extreme Glitter Mod Podge in a shop, but it is extremely glitter. Too extreme for diamond painting. The glitter usually does not go on evenly, more in some places than others. And if you use this Extreme Glitter Mod Podge, your main ruin your artwork.

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions from other users about sealing the diamond painting

Do I have to seal my paintings that I want to put in a glass frame?

If you plan to frame your diamond painting with a glass frame, you definitely do not need to seal your painting. The glass would already cover and protect it. Just you need to ensure, that that the canvas is strongly pressed down and is very close to the glass.

Do I have to use a sealer on my diamond painting? Is it an option or something that I must do to protect my craft?

Diamond painting is a new type of art – not more than 3-4 years old. The artist use canvas that is made by different suppliers. That canvas is covered by the glue, that no one knows how long it will be effective. Some users say that effectiveness lasts not more than 5 years, others are more optimistic.

The alternative way of sealing the diamond painting

Sometimes it may happen that you do not like sealing the painting as described above. And putting in a glass frame is not also an option for you. Then I recommend saving you leftover diamond drills. If the case of an accident (popping drills), if your painting loses some diamond drills, you can fill the gaps with these leftover diamonds. The root of the problem of the popping drill lies in the base surface of the drill. Drills that have a concave base/bottom tend to work themselves off the adhesive. When they pop off, replace them with new non-defective drills that have a flat base, then they should stick.

Can I use sealers with Partial Drill Kits?

Yes, but go with a smaller brush! As much as possible, you want to avoid getting sealant on the parts of the canvas that have no diamonds.

Can I use sealers with Round Drill Kits?

Yes – sealing diamond painting round drill kits works just as well as square drills.

Can you use Mod Podge and then spray with a gloss sealer?

Yes. The spray gloss sealer gives an additional gloss for the painting. Just keep in mind, that the unique sparkling from faceted diamond is possible only with uncovered and unsealed diamond drills. Your diamond painting will lose some shine after sealing.

Do you recommend stretching the canvas for framing, or sealing it first?

It does not matter when you put the sealer on your diamond painting, before or after the framing. Just keep your painting flat on the table – the liquid sealer should cover both the all the gaps and the diamond drills. If you must seal the diamond painting after the framing, I recommend putting the protective tape on the frames, unless you prefer to cover the frames wit the sealer also.
In general, the framing is the last step of your artwork. If there is a possibility to unframe the diamond painting – do it. It is more convenient to edit the artwork while it is a draft.

A friend of mine used puzzle glue to secure his painting. Is this also a good option?

Thank you for the great question. That was new for me, so I did a little research on puzzle glue. And it seems that are the same as glue, used by us, diamond painting lovers. The puzzle glues go easily and dry totally clear. And it seems OK for us. Many puzzle lovers use the same Mod Podge, a dedicated craft glue. That means we, artists of the new arts, are using almost the same glue type, just different made.

What about DecoArt Triple Thick sealer?

When I first tried to seal the diamond painting, I used DecoArt Triple Thick. The gloss went well, it covered well and dried well. My issue was, it covered all diamonds in a coating so that the diamonds themselves turned into colored mounds with no facets. There were no facets to reflect the light! It did not sparkle! It shined, glossy and all, but the sparkles didn’t play in the light.

Have any helpful tips about sealing your Diamond Painting? Leave them in the comments section!

Vilija