Storing enamels after they are washed?

Jewelry Discussion
1

How long can you store leaded enamels after they were washed??
should they be dried and stored or can you leave them in water? for
how long and how much water???

Thanks,
Vicki

2

Vicki. Why are you washing your enamels? The only time they need to
be rinsed is to remove the fine particles if one is planning to do
wet packing. The fines would cause cloudiness. If one plans on dry
sifting the enamels there is absolutely no need to wash them.

Now, assuming you are doing wet packing, only rinse the small amount
needed at that time. Any wet enamels that are left over, should be
thoroughly dried and stored. Also, be sure to save the cloudy fines
left over from rinsing. They have many uses. Rinsed enamels will keep
indefinitely.

If you are working with Thompson enamels, get the Thompson
"Workbook." It only costs around $10.00 and will give you invaluable
up-to-date on enamels.

Alma

3 
How long can you store leaded enamels after they were washed??
should they be dried and stored or can you leave them in water? for
how long and how much water???

Standard rule of thumb is six months. I usually will only wash a
small amount at a time to keep waste minimal.

BBR - Sandi Graves, Beadin’ Up A Storm
Stormcloud Trading Co

4

Hi Vicki,

How long can you store leaded enamels after they were washed??
should they be dried and stored or can you leave them in water?
for how long and how much water???

I just looked up your question in Linda Darty’s book The Art of
Enameling–I highly recommend this one. How long you can store an
enamel in water (should be distilled because of the impurities
present in tap water that can alter your enamel’s composition) is
dependent upon the enamel itself (clear vs opaque vs the
manufacturer). You don’t want to store it damp, must either be wet
or dry. Linda’s book does say that wet enamels cannot be stored for
long periods of time even when in an air tight container. If you
start to see white specks in your enamel, then it is decomposing.
Sometimes you can wash this off other times you need to use acid.
Apparently opaques decompose quicker than the transparents.

I was taught to only wash the amount you will use for today and use
up any extra within a day or so. As a matter of habit, I wash the
“left over” enamel again the next day just to be sure that it is
clean.

May the Kiln Gods be good to you!

Brenda
http://www.brendaschack.com

5 
Standard rule of thumb is six months. I usually will only wash a
small amount at a time to keep waste minimal.

Enamels are just ground glass, are they not? Why would glass not
keep indefinately in water, if both were clean and in a sealed
container?

Tracy Sutherland
(first post, please be gentle)

6 
Enamels are just ground glass, are they not?.

They are not. Glass is a liquid, being just very viscous at room
temperature. So the other materials such as metal oxides, borates
and feldspar can be affected. I have a very old bottle of opaque
blue enamel that is “flecked” with white stuff. It is a mess when
fired.

David
Who is looking at jewellery in China, currently in Xi’an.

7

Enamels are just ground glass, are they not?.

They are not. Glass is a liquid, being just very viscous at room
temperature. So the other materials such as metal oxides, borates
and feldspar can be affected. I have a very old bottle of opaque
blue enamel that is "flecked" with white stuff. It is a mess when
fired.

Thanks for replying. It occurred to me immediately after hitting
Send that “just glass” isn’t very colourful, and that the other
components might react in water - which made me wonder if it is the
components in enamels which are the problem, or the surface
area/volume ratio, or…

Tracy Sutherland
(nowhere near as exotic as China)