Can You Use Hairspray to Seal Painted Rocks?

Can you use hairspray to seal paint?

I want to help make rock painting as easy and accessible of a craft as possible. For me, that means answering commonly asked questions to help rock painters have the best results possible.

One questions I came across recently was: Can you use hairspray to seal painted rocks?

Hairspray is occasionally used to seal certain kinds of art so it would make sense to ask whether this would apply to painted rocks as well.

Keep reading to learn about whether hairspray is a good sealer for painted rocks, how to seal glitter decorated rocks and what the best way to seal a rock painting project is!



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Can you use hairspray to seal paint?

No.

Some art mediums -- mostly things that are kind of dusty -- can be sealed with hairspray. Pastels or graphite are sometimes sealed with hairspray.

Acrylic paint, tempera paint and other types of paint that you might use on rocks cannot be sealed with hairspray.

Hairspray is neither permanent nor waterproof and some formulations of hairspray and paint react badly to each other and could cause your paint to melt or get gooey!

Luckily, good rock sealers aren't expensive! 

Read my article: What is the best way to seal painted rocks to learn what the best kind of sealer for your rock is.

Can you use hairspray to seal glitter?

In some contexts, hairspray might be a good way to temporarily prevent glitter from flaking off of whatever it has been applied to, especially hair.

In terms of rocks decorated with glitter, though, hairspray is not a good sealing option.

Hairspray is not designed to be permanent. Hairspray is designed to wash out of hair and it will also wash off of your rock.

If you decorated your rock with paint in addition to the glitter, you could run into an additional problem: Some paint and hairspray chemical formulations react badly to each other.

Using hairspray on the paint could cause your paint to become gooey or even melt after the hairspray is applied to it and ruin your rock.

Get more information about the right way to seal glitter onto painted rocks here.

Can you seal washable paint with hairspray?

Unlike an acrylic spray sealer, hairspray is neither waterproof nor permanent.

Generally, I would not recommend painting rocks with washable paint but if you do and you want to seal it, I would use an acrylic spray sealer.

Do you need help sealing rocks? Get my guide to how to seal painted rocks.

Want to use tempera paint on rocks? Read my article: Can you use tempera paint on rocks?

Does acrylic paint need to be sealed?

It depends.

Some acrylic paints are formulated specifically to be "self-sealing" and outdoor safe without an additional sealer.

Other acrylic paints will need to be sealed.

To tell if you need to seal your acrylic paint or not, examine the label of your paint bottle and look for words like "outdoor safe" or "weatherproof". If you see these words, let your paint cure fully according to the directions on the label to become outdoor safe.

Don't see the words outdoor safe, weatherproof (or similar) on your label? When in doubt, seal it with spray sealer.

Want to know more about sealing painted rocks? Go here for my rock sealing guide.

What is the best way to seal painted rocks?

It depends on what you painted it with!

To get detailed help for how to properly seal your painted rocks, visit my comprehensive guide to sealing your painted rocks no matter what you painted it with!

If this guide was helpful don't forget to save it for later!


Is hairspray a good way to seal painted rocks? If you have rock paintings that need to be sealed, be sure to read this guide to sealing rocks before you grab your hairspray bottle. #ilovepaintedrocks #rockpainting #paintedrocks #howtosealrocks


About the Author:

Carissa is a lifelong crafter and mom of two creative boys. 

The owner and lead writer of both I Love Painted Rocks and Creative Green Living, she has won multiple awards for her craft writing including the Craftys Award for the "Best Craft Blogger" category in 2016 and the ShiftCon award for "Best DIY blogger" in 2018. 

Her projects have been featured in magazines like Kids Crafts 1-2-3, Country Sampler Farmhouse Style and more.

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