The short answer here is “Yes, if you’d like it to be!”

We offer a variety of methods of repairing items and some of them are foodsafe and some of them aren’t. A traditional Hon-Kintsugi repair using lacquer-based adhesives to join the pieces and finishing with gold or silver results in a completely safe item that can be used for food or drinks without any concern. A modern Kan’i Kintsugi repair using epoxy resin to join the pieces can be made foodsafe but there is a trade-off in durability and heat-resistance. The finish can also affect whether an item is foodsafe or not as whilst gold, silver and aluminium are all foodsafe, brass is not.

When you get in touch, we’ll talk through all of the options and what you’d like out of the end result to make sure that you receive a restoration you’re happy with.

A repair, modern or traditional, will stand up to normal use without issue although we do recommend taking a bit more care with the item. Whilst it’s been fixed, ceramic is still a delicate material and will break if mistreated or dropped. I have found, on the rare occassion that a repaired item comes back in after another accident, that breaks will occur in new places, sometimes running through the existing repair.

The most likely or noticeable damage that is likely to occur is to the finish. Whilst the metals are set and cured into the lacquer, they’ll still get damaged is you use harsh chemicals or abrasive sponges to clean them or frequently scrape at them with cutlery or utensils. As such, I recommend cleaning repairs with warm soapy water and a soft cloth or sponge. If you’re keen to use your item on a daily basis and find that over the years the finish is getting damaged, I can repair/refinish it for a small fee covering the cost of materials.

This is probably the most frequent and most difficult question that I get asked. The difficulty in answering it is that there are a lot of options and they impact on the amount of time, materials and skill involved in the repair.

The key factor in calculating quote is the extent of the damage, and this is the first thing I’ll ask for once you get in touch. For breakages and cracks, this is found by measuring the along the line of the break so if you’re able to provide a rough estimate of this when you get in touch it will speed things up somewhat.

The next factor that affects the price is the style of repair. A modern repair using epoxy is quicker and easier to complete and as such, is cheaper to do whilst a traditional repair takes longer and requires more skill and that is reflected in the quote. You can find out more about modern vs. traditional repairs below.

The final factor affecting the price is the finish you’d like on the item. All of the metal powders used are imported from Japan and are ground to a fine grade specifically for use in kintsugi. Whilst gold and silver are the traditional metals used for repairs, they are both expensive precious metals and as such, we offer brass and aluminium as cheaper alternatives. You can also opt to finish the piece with lacquer if you’d like.

When you receive your quote it’ll contain a breakdown of all of the options for you so that you can decide what is right for you.

The TLDR of this would be that and epoxy repair using brass/aluminium is the cheapest, and a traditional repair using gold is the most expensive. The price changes due to the time, skill, materials, durability and authenticity of the repair.

Aside from the lacquer and previous metal, the biggest component used in a repair is time. Kintsugi is not a process that can be rushed or even, necessarily, completed to a specific deadline. Unlike some lacquers and polishes, urushi lacquer doesn’t cure through evaporation but rather in the presence of a specific temperature and humidity. Under ideal circumstances, it will take roughly a week for the lacquer to cure when gluing pieces together and a few days for each layer that is applied prior to finishing. Whilst we can control the vuring environment to an extent, it sometimes takes longer and sometimes takes shorter lengths of time for a piece to cure enough to move on to the next stage.

The complexity of the break also impacts on the length of time a repair will take. A plate that is split into two pieces will take significantly less time to fix than one shattered into ten for example, as the latter might need to be put back together in stages.

As a general guide however, a repair usually takes somewhere in the region of 3-6 months to complete, occasionally less, sometimes more.

Traditional Hon Kintsugi

When kintsugi was invented, Japan already had a long history of using urushi to create lacquerware products so it’s use in crafts was widespread throughout the country. It creates a hardwearing and beautiful finish that is foodsafe and pest resistant and is the basis for a traditional hon kintsugi repair. From start to finish, Ki-urushi is mixed with flour and water to create a glue referred to as mugi-urushi which is used to join pieces together. Sabi-urushi is then made using urushi, water, and tonoko or jinoko, which is used to fill small gaps before applying multiple layers of red and black urushi to even out the surface prior to finishing. This is very much a quick rundown of the process that doesn’t go into much detail but it hopefully gets across the level of complexity, care and attention needed and given to a traditional repair. The result is something that is not only an incredibly durable material, it is also food safe and has anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-pest properties too.

Modern Kan’i Kintsugi