Glass bottle bricks: Eco friendly colour options

Hiya, folks. Greetings from South Africa.
I've collected a whole bunch of glass bottles: Clear, green, brown. I'm looking for ways of colouring the clear ones red, blue or yellow. I've read that they can be coloured with resin, but as far as I know, most resin is not eco-friendly, and the good stuff is most likely hard to find here.
I'm thinking of painting the tinfoil covering the outside of the glass bottle bricks with ink on the inside. Has anyone tried this?

Welcome to Permies, Clare!

When I was a child, we did a school project where we brought a mayonaise or peanut butter jar to school, glued things to the inside that we cut out of magazines and then painted the balance of the inside with some kind of paint. I'm sure in the mid-70s, no thought was given to eco friendliness, but I'm sure you can adapt the process.

But your last line about the tinfoil leaves me unsure that I understand your project.

As for resin, you can collect it on a knife edge from fallen pine limbs, thin it with a solvent -- maybe ethanol(?) and tint it with minerals like powdered lapis or clay or whatever.

Maybe paint the inside of the bottles with milk paint.  The problem I see with this is that when the bottles are heated to make the bricks the paint might burn and turn black.

But your last line about the tinfoil leaves me unsure that I understand your project.

As for resin, you can collect it on a knife edge from fallen pine limbs, thin it with a solvent -- maybe ethanol(?) and tint it with minerals like powdered lapis or clay or whatever.

Thanks, Christopher.
Glass bottle bricks often have tinfoil wrapped around them before being built into cob walls.

Super tip about resin!! I was referring to the synthetic stuff but look forward to trying out the original stuff.

Anne Miller wrote:Maybe paint the inside of the bottles with milk paint.  The problem I see with this is that when the bottles are heated to make the bricks the paint might burn and turn black.

Interesting idea, thanks.

Welcome to Permies!

Here is a thread about making paint from earth pigments. Maybe something in that thread can help you with coloring your glass.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Welcome to Permies!

Here is a thread about making paint from earth pigments. Maybe something in that thread can help you with coloring your glass.

Thanks, Joylynn. I want the paint to be translucent, though, like "stained glass" paint.

Glass bottle bricks often have tinfoil wrapped around them before being built into cob walls.

I have never seen that and wonder why it would be done?

Clare Murphy wrote:I want the paint to be translucent, though, like "stained glass" paint.

Unless you use some sort of natural resin, I feel the transparency is not possible.

Though maybe a natural food colored water like maybe from beets might not totally dissolve when the bricks are heated.

I hope if your problem is resolved you will let the forum know the solution.

.

John C Daley wrote:

Glass bottle bricks often have tinfoil wrapped around them before being built into cob walls.

I have never seen that and wonder why it would be done?

It is done to create a mirrored tunnel to reflect light in.  Guessing over time it leads to no gain though as the aluminum foil oxidizes.

I know in Rob Roy's old book on cordwood construction he talked about using two wine bottles instead of a stick of cordwood and suggested creating a sheet metal cylinder so that the area around the necks doesn't fill with sawdust or cob. Is that the kind of thing that is meant by "glass bottle brick"? It seems like Anne believes maybe you're melting the glass and I'm unsure.

If it's as I described. I wonder how safe it would be to fill them with colored water.

I guess I was wrong about the bottles being heated:

, my friend is wanting to make a bottle wall out of bottle "bricks" (two bottles cut in half and the cylindrical ends/bottoms taped together),

https://permies.com/t/11155/dirt-glass-bottle-walls#242898