Ever seen the spray frosting for windows in a can? Yeah, I’m not sure how white spatter looks at all like ice crystals or even window frost for that matter. I wanted to find a good/cheap alternative to get the icy frost on the front door sidelights for the Christmas tour. After researching and tinkering I found a pretty good recipe:
- 1 bottle of beer (12 oz) Don’t tell Patrick I sacrificed on of his babies!
- 6 heaping tablespoons of Epsom salt
Total cost: $4 (will cover a lot of window panes)
Mix the beer and Epsom salt and let it set until mostly dissolved and foam has gone down (around 20-30 minutes).
Then I took an old terry rag an dabbed it on the outside edges of the windows. I put it on the outside because these are the original single pane sidelights so they get condensation at night and the epsom-beer mix has to dry to form the crystals. I just did the edges to give it the lightly frosted look.
There are a few notes:
- Clean the windows first
- Use a deep bowl; the beer-epsom salt mix really foams
- Dab it on as thick as you can but avoid drips if your not coating the whole window
- After it sets for a minute but BEFORE it dries swipe the rag diagonally to create the long jagged crystals, the round ice flowers seem to form where the liquid was a little thicker
- You can put a second layer on but it didn’t really make a difference and in some places made the frost show drip spots instead of crystals
- I tried dipping some glass votives in the mix to make frosted glass. While, it does frost them but they didn’t have enough surface area to make the pretty crystal formations. My final decision? Wash them off.
Also, it sticks pretty well so you aren’t going to accidentally scratch it right off, but it came off just fine using my homemade window cleaner. Why not another recipe while were at it? Window Cleaner:
- 1 part white vinegar
- 1 part water
- 1 part rubbing alcohol
- I’ve heard you can add a couple drops of essential oil to change the smell. I don’t mind vinegar so I haven’t tried it before.
I just throw it all in a spray bottle and away I go. Back to the frost: I was very pleased with the authentic ice look. Here’s a closer view so you can see the pretty formations.
So what’s the verdict? Does it look like ice on the windows or did I just waste one of Patrick’s beers?
