How To Keep Beads From Fading
Tips for Unstable Beads
Sometimes I go bead shopping and dive correct into the dyed and metallic beads, even though I know better. It's equally if my rational brain literally turns off. I get a faraway look, and my eyes start spinning with that "all the pretty colors" expect. Then I come home and dump out my bag and, well, cuss.
The downfall of these trivial gems is their unstable finishes that can rub off or fade—it makes their dazzler fleeting. Sometimes the change is caused past abrasion with other beads, thread, or peel; other times information technology'due south from sunlight; and often it can happen from a chemical reaction with the oil in your skin.
The easiest way to discover out if a bead is dyed is to ask the vendor. Well-nigh listing that information correct on the label with a "D." If that's not possible, the well-nigh suspicious clues include i) an obvious surface treatment, where the color doesn't come up inherently from the glass or stone; 2) specially vibrant or unusual color; and three) a member of the majestic and pink color families. Another style to notice out is to get your hands skillful and sweaty past rubbing them together for a bit. Add the bead in question to your palms and rub again. Did some color rub off on your hands? If so, the bead is dyed.
Metallic, or galvanized beads, are much like dyed chaplet in that they are made by treating the surface with a coating to give it a shiny metal look. Once more, ask the vendor if the bead is galvanized or check the label for a "G." You can try the hand-rubbing trick with these, too.
Short of keeping them locked up in a hermetically sealed container and wearing gloves every fourth dimension you handle them, at that place are a few things you can exercise to aid keep your dyed and metallic chaplet looking adept:
- Glaze your beads with clear acrylic spray paint before working with them. If you lot're working with seed beads, one way to do this is to pour them into a plastic zippo purse, spray a flake of pigment into the bag, milk shake the handbag to coat the chaplet, and pour them onto plastic sheeting to dry. (Please, only do this technique outside or in a well-ventilated area and promptly dispose of that nasty plastic bag after you finish. We demand to continue our brain cells fresh for beading!)
- Diane Fitzgerald turned me onto Time to come clear acrylic floor wax for strengthening the stitched thread in finished seed-bead work, but it besides works well for protecting unstable chaplet. It works best to dip the finished piece of work in a dish filled with the stuff then air-dry information technology on paper towels.
- You tin employ light coats of a production like DesignaSeal, Mod Podge, or Diamond Coat to seal larger beads with unstable finishes. Go along in mind that these sealers may modify the look of your beads, creating a loftier gloss.
- If y'all don't desire to mess with sealants or sprays but still can't resist that metallic look, know that seed-bead manufacturer Toho has developed a permanent galvanized seed bead. I've worked with them quite a bit and they are very stable.
If you want to learn more nearly dewdrop finishes, there's an excellent section in The Beader'due south Companion—one of my favorite go-to sources, and I helped write it! Buy The Beader's Companion.
Do y'all have some other ideas for fixing unstable beads? Share them on the site.
Jean Campbell writes almost beading and life every Midweek on Beading Daily. If you lot have comments or questions for Jean, delight post them on the website. Thanks!
Source: https://www.interweave.com/article/beading/how-to-keep-the-finish-on-metallic-and-dyed-beads/#:~:text=Coat%20your%20beads%20with%20clear,onto%20plastic%20sheeting%20to%20dry.
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