How to Repair Your Broken Ceramics with Kintsugi
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Kintsugi (also known as Kintsukuroi) is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold in order to highlight and show off the imperfections caused by the breakage. Traditionally you would use liquid silver, liquid gold, or lacquer with powdered gold to both join the broken pieces and embellish them. By repairing what was once broken you get to breathe life into it.
I have to say I love and appreciate this concept. The idea that broken things are meant to be embraced and shown off with pride versus hidden is a lesson we can all learn from. You never know how a piece is going to break which gives every item a uniqueness that cannot be replicated.
I studied abroad in college in London and purchased this vintage tea cup at the Greenwich market. It is very sentimental to me and I have always placed it at the top of my tall dresser as I consider that a “cat safe” area. I was wrong. Last fall I went to London for a work trip and the cats rebelled. I hate leaving them for that long and they feel similarly so they took it out on me by knocking my teacup off the dresser, breaking it into multiple pieces. I have saved the pieces and have been uncertain of what to do with them, hoping there would be a pretty way to fix it. Enter Kintsugi and my love to make any container into a planter.
Tips & Tricks
I advise wearing a rubber glove on the hand that will be holding the pieces with glue on them. The first time I did this I accidentally glued my hand to the cup while squeezing the items together. I had to soak my hand in warm water and soap for 30 minutes. It was embarrassing.
You can use many types of glue but I recommend water resistant if it is a mug or a similar item that you plan on using versus just being displayed
Make sure the glue is clear (so no gorilla glue).
MOST IMPORTANTLY, make sure it is quick setting, so less than 10 minutes, but not instant like hot glue. If it takes too long you will have to sit there and hold the pieces together which can lead to errors. When I applied it I let it sit for a few minutes to let it get tacky and then put them together. After a quick squeeze they stuck and I let it sit for an hour to cure.
When adding the gold powder, do not sprinkle it on, you will end up with way too much! Imagine when you are cooking and adding salt and the lid falls off, you now have a cup of salt in your dish that you did not want. A little goes a long way here.
Supplies
Step 1
Squeeze some glue out onto a disposable surface, I used wax paper, and add a small amount of powder. Mix until its evenly distributed.
Step 2
Spread the glue onto both pieces and let it sit for a couple minutes. This allows it to get tacky so when you push the pieces together they bond faster.
Step 3
Only attach one piece at a time and allow it to dry fully before doing the next piece. My glue took one hour to cure.
Step 4
Once all your pieces are fully attached and dried, hand wash it to get stray glue and gold off. I decided to use my teacup as a pot so I went ahead and planted a Hoya Hindu Rope in it.
Besides the hiccup with covering my hands in glue and not being able to get it off, I was so happy to be able to fix my teacup. Although it already has 200 years of history under its belt, the teacup’s appearance has been forever altered by my cats being cats. I was crushed when they broke it but I am so happy to have discovered Kintsugi and the art of embracing flaws. Art is annoyingly good at teaching lessons sometimes right? I hope this helps you be able to reinvigorate some of your broken, loved items. Let me know how they turn out in the comments below.
