glass jars

Among these five finishes, the glaze is the most durable. Simply put, glaze is minute particles of clear or colored glass that is suspended using a liquid agent. This is applied on cookie jars by means of brushing, dipping or airbrushing. However, the major problem with glaze is crazing. The manifestations of which are the tiny cracks on the body or a portion of the jar surface.

Unlike glaze, pain or cold paint is never fired. It can be either applied directly on the glaze or on the bisque. Like ordinary painting, the paint on the jar often deteriorates. This may be due to extreme temperature, exposure to sunlight, humidity and glass jars contact with other objects. This process can never be stopped once the onset becomes visible.

The standard rule of thumb in handling painted cookie jars is not to wash them with water. This will further aggregate the fading of the color.

Transfer designs, so long as they were done in the proper manner, may be a much better option than that of the painted ones. This is true because transfer designs hold up much stronger than the paints. But they are far more susceptible to damage from foreign elements than the glazes. Transfer-decorated cookie jars that are undergoing premature deterioration is partly due to the transfer design, rather than the glaze.

Mold companies seem to have recognized the importance of improving these processes. They have been developing broader selections of finishing methods for jar crafters. This is partly due to the need for improvement and glass jars partly because of the growing popularity of cookie jar collecting.