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March 27, 2017

Test Results :: White


It's taken me more than eight years to get around to blogging about this very important staple colour. Effetre White is a very soft colour and turns transparent when it is heated to a molten state.


Reducing White does not alter the colour or surface finish of it.


Silver fumes White a yellowish colour.  Great if you want a yellow bead, sad if you want a White one. The silver takes on a greyish/pinkish appearance whether encased or no, although encasing it lightens the colour significantly.


I didn't get as much yellow fume in these silver glass beads as I did with the silver leaf tests, but there is a fair amount in the leftmost bead from when I reduced the silver glass.  White seems like a pretty indifferent base glass to use with silver glass, not really doing anything to enhance either the reduction or striking colours I tested it with.


When Tuxedo is used on top of White, the White separates underneath it and rises up around it in broad, subtle halos and makes the Tuxedo looks faintly bluish at its edges.  On top of Tuxedo, White spreads and looks faintly translucent. I also got some separation in the White right at the edge where Tuxedo meets Copper Green in the rightmost bead, but I think that is vestigial from the Copper Green and not due to the Tuxedo since it doesn't carry through.

Nothing in White prevents Copper Green from developing that army green sheen that it likes to get. When you use White on top of Copper Green, it separates and the Copper Green bleeds into it at the edges, making them a bit ragged.

There's not much else to say about the reactions here.  I should add that Peace and White, although both very "white", are not identically "white" - you can see Peace on top of White and vice versa.  My opinion is that the main differences between these colours are as follows:

  • Peace is stiffer than White, and therefore a better choice if what you are doing is sculptural work.
  • White is much less sensitive to flame chemistry and doesn't soot up in a reduction flame - if you are on a hothead, White might be a better choice if you're having trouble with Peace.
  • White is less reactive overall than Peace, making it a less effective base for silver glass and a less volatile choice with other colours, but Peace has more interesting reactions with other colours.

I tested CiM Peace here, if you are interested in those results.

Here are some beads with White, although I think that some of them may have been made with Vetrofond White, which is not the exact same animal.  I am a sucker for a good deal and bought a lot of Vetrofond White when Mike Frantz had it on sale a couple of years ago.







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