How To Apply Gold Leaf To Your Paint Job

Custom paint is a great touch you can add to any vehicle to set yourself apart. There are a few paint techniques that require skill but like with anything else, a little know-how and practice can get you there!

One art that seems to be slowly dying off is Pinstriping. So this pinstripe trick is one that will make your ride pop – gold leafing. Gold leaf has been around for hundreds of years but only really got popular in the automotive industry back in the ’50s and ’60s when the custom paint craze took off.

The tools you’ll need are a pinstriping brush, a glider brush, a small polishing bit, a piece of velvet, some thinner, gold leafing size (adhesive), and of course, gold.

Using a freshly cleaned surface, lay down some tape to outline where you want to put the gold. Mix less than an ounce of your gold leaf size with a few drops of thinner. Next, dip your brush into the adhesive and thoroughly coat it. Load up your brush by swiping it across a test surface.

When you’re ready for your actual surface you want to lay down the adhesive in long, smooth strokes. Then you can remove the tape and let the adhesive sit for about 30 minutes. Next comes the fun part – laying down the gold! We’re using 23 karat gold which is very delicate, not to mention pricey so you want to be careful. Lay down the sheet over the adhesive. It shouldn’t require much pressure since the adhesive will grab on and pull the gold off the sheet. Continue until all the adhesive is covered and brush away the excess. It’s that simple!