Aluminium Leaf - Loose

Aluminium leaf (often called imitation silver leaf) is a metal leaf made from pure aluminium that has been hammered into incredibly fine sheets for use in gilding. Aluminium leaf is available in both standard and superior quality and as both loose and transfer leaf.

The loose aluminium leaf is supplied in booklets of 25 leaves, each leaf in the book is separated by sheets of rouged paper but is not adhered to the paper. In order to remove the leaf from the book we recommend you use a brush such as a badger hair gilders tip to pick up the leaf although it can be handled if done so delicately and with clean, grease-free fingers as it is heavier than genuine silver and gold leaf. Loose leaf is suitable for gilding any surface but is most often used for more intricate and delicate work for example carved and ornate mouldings where transfer leaf is unsuitable.

Aluminium leaf is non-tarnishing and will only require protection if the gilding is to be touched or handled or is situated in a high traffic area where it is likely to get scuffed or marked. We supply a number of lacquers and varnishes that are suitable for protecting metal leaf. In particular, we recommend Kölner Leaf Protect to protect the leaf from tarnishing, followed by a more hard wearing topcoat..

Aluminium leaf is available in two grades, the Superior grade is manufactured in Italy to the highest standards

Booklets are available in two different sizes - 140 x 140mm (approximately 0.49m² coverage per booklet) and 95 x 95mm (approx. 0.22m² coverage per booklet). 

Each booklet contains 25 leaves