Mystery White Powder

I was going through some blogs today and came across one that talked about the mystery white powder you find on some beads. It washes off--I know because I've had to do that on some of the beads we sell.

The curious blogger said that her coworker "asked about some white dust coming out of the bracelet beads from the glass bead kit."

Nathalie, a Metalsmith and Lampwork Glass Artist, replied:

The white powder residue inside those beads is what we call "bead release" - it's what we coat our metal rods with (you dip your rods in this liquid) so that when you melt glass on the rod to create a bead, the bead will "release" from the rod once it has cooled down.

Without that coating on the rod, the glass would be permanently fixed to the rod. We would not be able to remove it.

This said, however, this white powder is dangerous to inhale. You should not purchase beads that have not been cleaned thoroughly, and you should not be making jewelry with these beads without them being totally cleaned out of any residue.

Most beads that are sold with white residue inside are inexpensive mass produced beads. They don't take the time to clean them out and they ship them out like that.

I would suggest that you equip yourself with an electric bead reamer (if you have a lot of those beads, it will be faster), or a regular manual bead reamer, run the beads under hot water (you do not want to be breathing in those particles!) and use the reamer to clean them out properly.

Also, often, these mass-produced beads are not "annealed" properly (i.e. once you take the glass bead out of the flame, it has to go in a kiln for the glass to be properly annealed - a proper heating and cool down to avoid cracks, etc), but most of those commercial beads are not annealed.

What does it mean? It means that these beads will often break more easily.

If you purchase handmade artisan lampwork glass beads from serious glass artists, their beads should be totally free of this white residue/totally cleaned out.

Here is more detailed information and explanation on this whole process:

http://www.self-representing-artist.com/about.htm

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This was a rather insightful and informative response and I have to add that sometimes beads do get a buildup of oil, perfume, or hairspray products. There's yet another form of powder used on the beads when they're shipped. I've been told it's a powder they use to keep away insects when shipping the boxes from out of the country. This particular powder coats the beads enough to make them look frosted. Once washed, it’s a complete transformation. I don't know if this is "bead release" considering it covers the whole bead and not just the holes. So it can potentially be the spray they put on beads for pests.

That's my two cents!

Take Care,
~Leann