Why powder in glass beads from India

[David Robertson]

Hi, Don,

I snipped this from a different page of our website...hope it's useful to you!  -- Dave  :icon_36:

"With the new fears about bio-terrorism, Rings & Things has been asked about the white powder found in packages of hand worked glass beads from India.

"Don't be alarmed ... there is no reason to be concerned about this white powder found inside packages of glass beads shipped from Rings & Things.

"Many glass beads in India have claylike "bead release" inside the bead. Workers coat steel rods with bead release before making glass beads on the rods. As the name implies, the bead release allows the bead to be removed from the rod after annealing and cooling. Often some of the bead release remains inside the bead. Some of the bead release will fall out of the bead and coat the inside of the plastic packaging with a fine white powder."

[David Robertson]

Welcome, Guest,

You have a good point.  To follow through on Don's questions, here's a sampling of techniques that the boys down in Research :icon_34: have turned up:  

-- Grinding each bead hole down using a bead reamer with a diamond bit.

-- Suspending the beads in Jack Frost, a commercial product containing hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acids, then rinse in water. (Jack Frost is a dangerous substance. Follow all instructions that come with the product.)  Less ferocious equivalents to Jack Frost like Etchall Dip 'N Etch can be used, with correspondingly less effect.  (NOTE:  THIS METHOD WILL ETCH/MATTE YOUR BEADS!!  :icon_31:  And it sounds to us like not such an effective way to remove the bead release!!  Be advised!!)

-- Using a Foredom with diamond burs, then a Waterpik to blow out the bead release, then right away drain the beads thoroughly.

Lampworkers reading this, do you have more hints on cleaning away :icon_25: bead release residue?

[cvsharkey]

I've found that using a bead reamer to remove the bead release powder on Indian made glass beads causes them to crack (not always right away--sometimes it's days later before the fracture to show)  this is because they don't anneal their beads!

[Chardongentry]

Can anyone tell me why there is a powdery substance in all glass beads from India, even ones in stores like Hobby Lobby.  It is soft like talc.  Maybe to reflect light like silver lined beads?  Sure makes a mess of black cords.  The powder is white to off white.  Little hard to get out.  Won't just rinse out.  Easy to scrap out.  Please, I've heard all the jokes about that white powder is how they get through 16 hour days etc.  etc.  Thanks for any and all legtimate answers.
Don

How do you get it out?
Why didn't you answer the whole question Don asked instead of just quoting someone elses answer to another question?

[Chardongentry]

How about just running them back and forth on a wet  suspended string with a little comet or ajax for abraision? Thought about my rock tumbler too.  Seems like a lot of work any way for getting dirty beads.  Seems they should clean them when they make them.  Bet Czech beads don't have stuff in them.  Guess that is why beads from India are so cheap, cuz they are cheap!Don

I realize this was posted a while ago, but still hope this helps:
I recently had a slew of inexpensive beads like you described (including clear/frosted, which really showed the powder). Not knowing what else to do (it was all new to me) and obsessing on the whole "clean 'em up" thing, here's what I did:
I dumped the whole boatload of beads into a large bowl of water, let them soak for a while, rinsed the water a few times and then ran a thin pipecleaner through the holes, twisting and sweeping out the insides. I did a final rinse, let them dry and even the clear ones looked fantastic.
It took some time, but I just tackled a few everytime I went into the kitchen.
Perhaps "Not knowing any better is the mother of invention"?