Glitter with Water, Solvents, & Heat

Q. So, what's the story with solvents and Poly? A. It really has to do with film base, aluminum and heat. 100% Polyester Film is solvent resistant by nature. The straight film with no pigments and coatings that is. Once you add in pigments and coatings you are changing the chemistry of the film and that is where it gets complicated. To make it even more complicated the film gets cut which makes tons of exposed film edges- surfaces where the solvent can creep in and touch the pigments and coatings. Yikes! To make it even more complicated- some Poly Glitter is actually Polyester plus Acrylic. When you have that mix it drives the solvent resistance down, down, down. The good news is that testing has been done on the glitters and we know which ones do better in solvents than others. We have a Usage Chart and also a section of the site where we have isolated them out: Glitter For Floors & More 

Q. OK what about Craft Glitter and solvents? A. The story is less complicated with Craft Glitter. This type of glitter is made with a PVC film. This material melts when it hits solvents. If you do not see it melting right away it is because the coatings are protecting it for a bit before the solvent makes it through to the raw PVC at the center. If you use it with solvents, expect a mess unless you can somehow get it to dry before the damage is done. Good luck! 

Q. Why do I need to worry about water and Craft Glitter? A. Well, the film base (PVC) is water resistant. That means it can sit in water without breaking down. The problem is three fold- 

1. The coatings and pigments become exposed and over time the water will find its way past the edge and start releasing the pigment into the water. Some colors do this more than others. Reds and Oranges seem to be the worst. It is super important to test. 

2. Heat! If you put glitter into warm or hot water, the bleeding process speeds up. We suspect that the coating becomes a bit soft which allows the release to happen a bit faster than with cooler water. Sometimes bleeding is kind of cool. Like in calming jars it can be pretty. Be sure to test and not assume all colors will or will not bleed. ?

3. Off-gassing! Sound scary? It sort of is, but is more of a ruin-your-glitter situation than a health issue. Here is the problem- Take a metallic glitter (aluminum coated), add water, add heat. When you have that trifecta going you can run into off-gassing. There is a layer of coating on the glitter so the only aluminum that is actually exposed to the water is minimal. However, it can be enough to mess up your project. If you find weird things happening with your craft glitter and water-based mediums, you may be running into this. We use Craft Glitter in calming jars all the time and see some bleeding, but if you plan to resell items like this we recommend avoiding metallic glitters.

Q. Same story for Poly Glitter and water? A. Sort of. Polyester film is also water resistant. However, not all coatings were made to handle water submersion. You may find issues with some of the glitters bleeding, so be sure to test. We have a usage chart that can be used for identifying glitter that can handle water: Usage Chart You may have seen us saying not to use water-based mediums with metallic glitters for floors and other surfaces. It is because of the off-gassing problem mentioned above with craft (same with metallic poly glitters). The truth is you can mix metallic coated Polyester Glitters and water (water based mediums), but do it cool and do it fast. Don't mix them and let them sit and warm up. Be sure to run tests if you choose to try it. Chemistry is funny stuff and you can have a different outcome at different times of the year, different locations, and mediums. Conclusion- Get used to testing and become your own mad scientist! 

Link to Solvent Resistant Glitter page. 

Our in-house chemist at work...