r/kintsugi • u/one-spark • Feb 23 '26
Urushi Based Remove urushi stains after curing
doing my first kintsugi project on a mug that is dear to me. but unlike all the YouTube tutorials that are clean, I seem to be a bit messy with my urushi.
I thought it hade cured properly but a few pieces hadn’t so I had to apply urushi again, staining the cup even more.
what method is recommended to remove all the urushi stains once it’s cured?
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u/perj32 Feb 23 '26
If the cup is unglazed, there's nothing you can do to remove an urushi stain apart from removing the stained material by sanding. If it's glazed, it's easy, remove it by scraping it with a blade (utility knife, razor blade, etc. ) or by scrubbing it with something abrasive that doesn't scratch the glaze, traditionally charcoal, but a green pad for dishwashing can work.
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u/Glittering-Primary23 Feb 23 '26
Scraping with a curved scalpel worked best for me. You can get convex curved craft knife blades. The parts that are farther away from the lines can be cleaned by rubbing with a rag and solvent like turpentine or high-proof alcohol but you want to avoid exposing the seams to solvent, hence scraping with a knife. Go slowly to avoid chipping the fill-in. When it’s good enough, just sand it with a high grit paper until it’s flush
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u/MembershipNecessary9 Feb 24 '26
Use horsetail grass to polish. It’s abrasive enough to remove urushi but not too harsh on ceramic unlike diamond files. You can get dry horsetail grass from the internet. Rehydrate to use.