Description
Genuine Gold Leaf
Genuine gold leaf, just like any other genuine metal leaf such as real silver leaf, is a thin metal sheet. These metal sheets being used for the purposes of gilding an assortment of different surfaces with the lustre of real gold. Some such examples include a wide variety of options such as plastic, ceramic, glass, wood, paper, stone, fabric and an assortment of other materials.
Now, of course, there is a wide variety of options you can use for imitation gold leaf. However, here we talking about using top quality gold leaf that uses real gold instead of imitation gold leaf. No instead, here this is about applying genuine gold to a surface rather than any form of a replica.
These sheets each range from gold sheets that are of a purity rating of 12kt, 18kt, 21kt, 22kt, 23.5kt, 23.75kt and 24kt variations. Some of these will also potentially be useable as edible gold. That said though, if you are looking for some genuine edible gold then we can provide it and you should stick to that rather than gambling with other gold.
Leaf Coverage
When it comes to our authentic leaf as mentioned above it can come in purity ratings between 12k and 24k gold leaf. Each of which will all come in twenty five sheets of edible gold. However, these can ordered in batches of 25,100, 250 or 500 sheets with each sheet coming in dimensions of 3 1/8-inch x 3 1/8-inch in size. Additionally, they will also come as either loose leaf or transfer leaf sheets.
Either way, when you are trying to cover a surface with gold leaf, a book of twenty five will cover approximately two square feet. Meanwhille a pack containing five hundred sheets of genuine gold leaf will cover a roughly thirty two square foot area. That said though, for a curved surface a larger quantity of gold leaf will likely be required.
Loose Leaf Sheets
Loose leaf gold is a variation of gold leaf that come in packaged in booklets. Each of which will be contained within their own individual tissue paper compartment. The result of which being that these booklets make it incredibly easy to remove and use the silver sheets in question. Following which, the gold leaf can then be dropped straight from the booklet onto your gilder’s cushion. Alternatively, you can also use a gilder’s knife to carefully remove the gold leaf to place on your gilder’s cushion.
Patent Sheets
The other option for genuine gold leaf though is to buy it in a patent leaf format. Also known as transfer leaf, these types of genuine gold leaf will be pressed into tissue paper or wax paper, within booklets that are slightly larger than the sheets themselves. The benefit of which is that this allows you to press the gold directly into a adhesive covered surface. Additionally, it also grants the opportunity to shape the gold leaf on the paper beforehand.
FAQ – Genuine Gold Leaf
How can you tell if gold leaf is real?
When it comes to gold leaf there are genuine and imitation options. Genuine gold leaf in particular though can be identified by the fact that it will not tarnish or become dull over time due to environmental exposure.
What is a genuine gold leaf?
Genuine gold leaf is thin sheets or flakes of gold often used for the purposes of gilding surfaces.
Is gold leafing real gold?
Gold leaf can come in either imitation or genuine variations. The latter of which can come in varying levels of purity from 12 to 24 karats.
Does genuine gold leaf tarnish?
Genuine gold will not tarnish if it is very pure. However, lower purity gold leaf may tarnish if not treated with a sealant.
Jessica Smith –
I used it to gild a fore edge book that I created. It is very thin and delicate. If you touch it with your finger, it will disintegrate. It must be transferred from the paper it comes on directly to the surface to be gilded, or else it will fall apart. After a bit of expensive trial and error, my project came out very pretty and elegant looking.
robert s. –
Fast and wonderful!
Purchased 2 times 2 months apart both times outstanding! AAA+++
Steven Glucksberg –
Beautiful and easy to work with.
Athena Belisle –
Very nice
Martin W. Golden –
Great price quick shipping
DIANE A. –
This product works beautifully!
Ross Chalmers –
Following an initial mix-up when Amazon sent me the wrong product, I reached out to Barnabas Blattgold directly. They could not have been more helpful and dispatched a replacement order to me directly. The product (genuine gold leaf) is exactly as advertised and excellent quality. I will certainly source my future requirements from Barnabas Blattgold.
AiA –
They go above and beyond to make sure all customers are satisfied. Very pleasant experience!
Howard E. Glad –
Exactly as advertised…no surprises.
Dennis M. Laughlin –
Beautiful gold, easy to apply. Will purchase again for all my gold leaf needs!!
Ron K. –
embellishment on gourds
Inez Layman –
Perfect as usual! Thank you Barnabas Blattgold! And thank you Amazon.
Brad –
Great price for a great product. This stuff is the real deal. This year alone I’ve applied about 30 packs of this gold leaf, in the Missouri Governor’s Mansion and a catholic church in Kansas City. The 23.5 karat was a little cheaper and worked great for the church, but didn’t match what was at the governor’s mansion, so I had to go with the full 24K and that worked perfectly, matching the historic existing gold leaf very well.
I used the loose leaf at the church, but it’s like gossamer, so any breath will send it waving and when you try to control it you end up crumpling and tearing it, so unless you need it loose, the transfer paper is better because it’s stuck to the paper until you push it against the sizing on your wall/ceiling. The transfer is also better if you’re doing a fine design, because only the design will tear away and you can reuse other parts of the leaf on the same paper, whereas the loose stuff can tear when you pull it away and therefore be hard to reapply elsewhere.
User’s tip: In the middle picture, I painted my base designs with latex paint before applying my oil-based sizing and ultimately the gold leaf. This would normally be fine except that it all happened in a two day time period, so the latex paint hadn’t fully cured (even though it felt dry) and consequently the gold leaf stuck everywhere I pushed on it, not just on the sized spots. To fix this i used a fine point eraser-pen to “erase” the excess leaf and then go over it again with a bit of the latex base color.
Cee –
I’ve never used gold leaf before on my artwork, so i did not expect it to turn as well as it did or to be so easy to apply. Looks great; the particular color of the 24k gold is what I had wanted.
For beginners like myself, i suggest watching a couple of youtube tutorials first.
G Wilson –
Best available, both product and service.
John A. Galvin –
Product performed well, very simple to use