Nagging question...

Generally cow bone, though some of it is synthetic/plastic that's resin dyed. Some places will identify it, some won't.

KarenS

Thanks Karen, that's very good to know.

Best, Christine

Sometimes they do smell bad also.

Paula

Oh yuck!! Maybe I'll just hold off on that then! :-D

Best, Christine

Christine -- I have boxes of bone beads. I get reallly grossed out by the ones that still look like the bones from whence they came (the slices that look like the bone that comes in round steak? grossing myself out here). But most are clean and pretty. And bone beads have a terrific history that dates back to American Indians, African Tribes, and other indigenous cultures. I don't have any beads that smell bad (although I know that to be true). Some of the bone beads have been smoked, and the smoking leaves quite an odor.

Becki

Bone from India is made from Water Buffalo rather than Cow as the Cow is a sacred animal in most of India.

Bone from China is also mostly Water Buffalo, however they will also utilize the remains of Cows for product.

If you get bone beads that are smelly, it's usually from one of three reasons. Either the bone has not been cleaned properly before being made into beads. Or in otherwords, it's rancid. A nice boil in clean water should solve the problem. If the beads smell like formaldehyde, it's most likely the lacquer they have put over the bead. The only cure I know of is to leave the beads sit out in the sun for several weeks while the lacquer continues to cure. If the beads smell smokey, it's because they have been smoked to create a specific color. Put the beads in a ziplock bag along with a piece of charcoal until the smell subsides.

You can give your own bone beads an antique look by dipping them in tea or coffee. Because they are a porous material they'll drink up the liquid and it'll stain them nicely. Different brands of tea will produce different colors as well. Red Rose brand tea gives a nice rosy brown tinge. Dip in and out of the liquid checking for the color change rather than just leaving them sit. Sometimes they'll change very quickly and you could end up with chocolate colored beads before you know it.

You could also color your bone in more vibrant shades with clothes dye, like Rit. Setting the color with dye chemical, or with vinegar would be a good idea.

Hope this helps, Beki

I was wondering how you "set the color with dye chemical or vinegar". I would be more interested in the vinegar technique.

Also, can't you just paint bone beads with acrylic paint, say a light wash to give it a tint?

I have lots of bone beads but none have a smell...

Hi Karleen,

When I was younger and used to play with tye-dying, Rit had a color sealer they sold along side their dyes. I imagine it's still available. Or, you could just wash or soak the item in white vinegar, it has almost the same result. Somehow the chemical reaction in the acid helps to "set" the color. It's not permanent, as we all know anything dyed can still fade from UV exposure, but it does help to keep the color from just rubbing off. This only applies to porous materials, like fabric, or bone or such. It DOES NOT work on glass people. There is no way possible to keep those dyed seedbeads from changing color. Nothing, nadda, zip, zilch! ;o)

Yes, you can paint bone beads as well. With lots of mediums. You can also batik them by applying a layer of wax resist, and then dying, usually by dipping in something brown. Then wash and scrub the beads in hot soapy water to remove the resist and viola!

Jacquard produces a line of paints called Lumiere. They come in great metallic and pearlescent colors and after applied become subtle again. They are made for porous materials, so I imagine they'd be great on bone.

Lucky you on the non-smelly bone beads. I got some smoked ones from China once that took me close to a year to calm the smell down enough that I could put them out for sale. It was nuts! Just one single strand of them stunk up an entire box of over 100 strands, plus the cardboard box itself reeked like crazy.

I had heard that there was a factory out of China that was smoking their beads by using animal fat mixed in with the combustables. This apparently helped the smoke to "stick" to the beads quicker. Unfortunately it also smelled super bad and caused the beads to be sticky, almost like tar and nicotine from excessive cigarette smoke will do. It was pretty gross.

My favorite thing to do with plain bone beads is to cover them with seedbead netting. =o)

Beki

Vibrant Jewels wrote:

Beki reminded me -- my "mudcloth" bone beads (bone beads dyed to look like mudcloth, one of my favorites of the African beads) lost all their color when I cleaned the silver with Tarn-X. It is too strong for these beads. I now have a necklace with "cream" colored bone beads instead of mudcloth. LOL

The other Becki

OK, how long do you soak stuff in vinegar to set the dye, and then do you rinse it?

Seed bead netting!!! Great idea.

Thanks!

Hi Beki,

Thanks so much for all that information. It's a relief to know that the smell can be dealt with so easily if that happens to be the case.

Best, Christine

Well, my Nana used to just add a cup to a washer load of clothes. And so I took from that and would add about a 1/2 a cup into a wash bin of pretty warm water that I would rinse my tye-dye in.

So, for bone beads, maybe a tablespoon or two into a couple of cups of hot water and let it soak for an hour or until the water cools. ???

And yes, rinse the extra vinegar off the surface so your beads don't smell "sour" =o)

Does anyone remember washing their 501's in vinegar to help keep them a nice dark blue? This was sometime mid-70's.

Beki...wishing I had time to play with paints and dyes and bone beads today!