LOOSE BEADS - Tips for Cleaning Glass Beads by Donna Daniels

LOOSE BEADS




Glass beads are fairly durable but they do need to be cleaned when they get dirty. When you wear glass beads they can get dirt build up that will make the beads look less lustrous. Sweat and dirt accumulate and it should be cleaned off every once in awhile. If your beads are not in a container and they are out on display they can collect dust that should be cleaned off.

Cleaning glass beads is simple and won't take up much of your time. You can some glass cleaner like the kind you wash your windows with in a spray bottle. Spray a few of the glass beads at a time and take a soft absorbent cloth like a cotton towel and wipe the glass cleaner off of the glass beads. Keep spraying glass cleaner on just a few of the beads at a time until all the glass beads are clean and polished.

Another way you can clean glass beads is to soak the glass beads in a container that has water and a little ammonia in it. Let the glass beads soak for awhile and then take the glass beads out of the ammonia water. Rinse the glass beads off in clear water and then wipe them dry with a clean absorbent cloth until they are dry. Soaking glass beads in ammonia won't hurt the glass beads but it might damage the string that the glass beads are on. If you think that the string that your glass beads are on will be damaged don't use the ammonia soaking method.

You can soak the glass beads in very hot water with a small amount of dish soap in it. Soak the beads for about an hour then take the beads out of the soapy water and rinse them in clear water. Dry the glass beads with t soft absorbent cloth.

Another way to clean glass beads is with some rubbing alcohol. Soak a small piece of cloth in some rubbing alcohol and rub the sloth onto the beads until the beads and clean and shiny. You may have to rub the glass beads a few times to get them clean with rubbing alcohol.

Keep your beads clean and they will look nice while you wear them. You can clean any glass beads even beads that are sewn on a cloth. Beads can collect dirt and dust that need to be cleaned once in a while.

How to Care for Plated Metal Beads

LOOSE BEADS

How to Care for Plated Metal Beads

By Rachel Conoley, 

Plated metal beads can be a great economical choice for jewelry makers and customers alike. A thin plating of gold or silver over an inner core of a base metal like brass or steel results in a bead that looks and feels like gold or silver but costs far less. But there is a trade-off--this thin plating is susceptible to scratches and wear, and normal cleaning methods for gold and silver may remove the plating entirely.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cloth-lined container
• Soft cloth

1. Avoid scratching the beads. Loose beads should be stored carefully in an airtight plastic bag. Finished jewelry pieces should be set carefully in a soft cloth or cloth-lined container.
   
2. Wipe beads or jewelry with a soft cloth to clean. Avoid abrasive cloths or cleaning products. If possible, use a cloth that was made for polishing fine metals.
   
3. Keep silver-plated beads away from air, sunlight and paper, as these can all increase tarnishing. Solid sterling silver is easy to polish if it tarnishes--not so for silver plating, which may come off entirely if you use silver polish on it.
   
4. When designing jewelry using plated metal beads, be sure to include spacers between beads or place plated metal beads next to non-abrasive beads to minimize scratching and wear with regular use.
   
5. For beads whose plating is already worn, you may want to consider taking them to a jeweler to have them re-plated.
   

Jade Bead Jewelry - What Is Jade?

Making Jade Jewelry
Jade sells well: everyone loves jade!
If you make hand-crafted jewelry, use a lot of jade. It's easy and inexpensive to buy. It looks great on necklaces, bracelets and earrings - on its own or mixed with other stones.
Buying Jade for Jewelry
Jade is available in loose beads and temporarily strung into strands. Loose beads are cheaper, but strand beads have more-uniform drill holes, so will hang better, making them best for necklaces. However, if you plan on knotting your necklace, then loose beads will do.
Most colored jade is dyed, this is usual, and the color doesn't come off. So if you want continuity it is best to purchase all you need for a project in one go. Jade beads are carved into more different shapes than other stone. Like tiny, fish, bottles, rings, flowers, barrels, hearts, tubes, and many other designs to compliment a necklace or bracelet.
History of Jade
Part of the appeal of jade is its mystique - use this knowledge to help sell your jade jewelry.
For 5,000 years Imperial China used the word "jade" as something precious - as in English we use gold. Because the Chinese believe jade has all the attributes most valued in society:
"A symbol of purity and serenity.
Is delicate: but will not break.
Is beautiful: but not impermanent.
It can be flawed with lines: but still pleasing."
Jade is remarkably tough, used by ancient civilizations for axes and weapons. The Aztecs even taxed it. However, because of its smooth texture, it was soon carved into ornaments and jewelry. Chinese jade first arrived in the West during the sixteenth-century, brought from Canton by the Portuguese.
Today jade continues to be a symbol of love, virtue, and status. It is believed to radiate divine unconditional love and balance the emotions. Held in the hand it can improve judgment - silk traders clasped jade while bartering. Worn around the neck, jade was said to dispel illness and cure kidney problems. It was even used to bring immortality. Entire jade suits have been found in ancient emperors' tombs!
Types of Jade
Most jade carved in China is from Burma, with shades of green, lavender, yellow, white and grey. Naturally these colors form over millions of years from minerals in the rock. The emerald-green color of "Imperial Jade" jadeite is the most sought after by collectors. Only 150-years ago, it was realized that the word jade was being applied to two different minerals: jadeite and nephrite. The nephrite variety is composed of fibrous crystals inter-twinned in a tough compact mass. Nephrite is more abundant than jadeite and has fewer color varieties - usually less intense dark spinach greens, white, browns, and black.
Quality of Jade
The best jade has a waxy, pearly appearance. Feeling cool and so smooth, it seems soft to the touch. Yet hard enough that pressure from a sharp knife will not leave a mark. Quality rocks are usually cut into smooth dome shapes called cabochons, which are sold by the piece rather than per carat. Although the overall color is the most important factor, attention is also paid to translucency, texture, and pattern. Certain patterns, like moss in snow, are highly valued.
How to Use Jade in your Designs
Jade beads are usually made into necklaces and bracelets. Try mixing different shapes with complimenting colors to produce stylish jewelry. Matching jade earrings also look good. Design matching sets to boost your sales. Apart from beads, jadeite bangles have always been popular in Asia - some as recent as the art deco period have fetched hundreds of thousands-of-dollars in auctions. So buyers expect jade to be expensive. If you're selling hand-crafted jade jewelry, this helps your bottom line.

This article is from the new book How to Make a Killing Selling Bead Jewelry available from http://www.easytofollowbooks.com/book100salespage.htm

By Nigel Hay Mckay

Loose Bead Category

Basically, loose bead can be categories by its material. Here is a few popular category for loose bead:

1. Stone such as Moonstone, Jade, Hematite, Pearl, Amber, Garnet, Citrine, Agate, Onyx, Obsidian,  Peridot, Amethyst, Tourmaline, Azurite, Sugilite, Jasper, Labradorite, etc.
2. Crystal
3. Metals such as Brass, Copper, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Pewter, etc.

Loose Bead

What is loose bead?

Bead is a small, usually round object of glass, wood, stone, or the like with a hole through it often strung with others of its kind in necklaces, rosaries, etc.

Loose by the way can be discribe as