Whiting?

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Posted by Roderick on January 25, 2004

What is whiting? Is it white powdered pigment? I have a large bag of titanium dioxide that i use to make certain formulas of paint but I don't know if this is the same as whiting.
Danny mentioned cleaning with it so do you add water to it and scrub?

Roderick

Ron Percell - Titanium dioxide

titanium dioxide used as a base pigment in creating some white paints.

Back in the mid seventies a few of the guys would add just a little to Emerald green or brilliant blue to get better coverage. I personally didnt think that it was worth the time, it only greyed out the batches of paint.

Mike Jackson

Roderick,
You can probably do a Google.com search for technical specs on whiting, but I can help a little. I got a half gallon of Spanish Whiting from Steven Parrish after he passed away. It is very, very fine white powder. I've been told it is actually Kaolin, but not sure about that. Rick used to repackage it in smaller quantities. There are a few basic uses I know of--surely there are others.

First, it is great for white pounce bags, and especially so on small glass work. Larger granules can "draw" paint into themselves and create jagged edges. Use Whiting and a fine pounce wheel.

Second, when trying to hand paint matte centers, it is often hard to see exactly where you have lettered. By pouncing a very fine layer of whiting all over the working area, you can see where you've painted when the whiting goes clear. Since the whiting is very fine, it simply dissolves in the varnish without clouding it.

Danny may have been talking about the alumina micro powder if he was talking about mixing it with water to make a cleaning paste. That would be a different product. It is actually used to microscopically scratch the glass to give a better grip for later application of gold or silver. Sarah includes that in the gold and silver kits (at least it was in my gold/silver combo kit).

Good luck,
Mike Jackson

Danny Baronian

Well, I was hoping Dave Smith would jump in here, the Gold Man of England.

His mentor taught him to clean the glass with ammonia and whiting, and had been doing it for the 40 years he'd been in the mirroring business with good results.

At one time I did a google search, and I believe while whiting and kaolin are different, they are close in proprieties. The whiting does not break down in liquid and is a very fine abrasive. It is different than both the alumna powder and the cerium oxide.

Some use bon ami for cleaning. In photography, we use to use bon ami to clean the ferrotype plates (highly polished stainless steel) that dried b & w prints to produce a glossy surface. At the time, it was the only product Kodak recommended for cleaning, since most of the machines were made by them, but did not scratch the plates.

If someone has more information as to the make up of bon ami, I'd like to know. I wouldn't be surprised if whiting and bon ami are similar. As an interesting note, I checked the can as to it's make up, and is not listed. But it does warn not to use on glass and mirrors.

I've been doing a fair amount of mirroring lately, in lead, silver and gold. With one exception where I didn't clean the glass throughly, I have had no problems at all with the ammonia whiting mix.

Hope this helps, and hopefully Dave will jump in here occasionally.

Danny

Marjorie Meyer - Bon Ami

I was taught to use the caked form of Bon Ami to clean prior to gold leafing by Bill Hueg and Norm/Ruth Dobbins. The cake form ingredients are feldspar and soap. The bar states this is the same formula since 1886. See below for their website.

I live in Kansas City (home of the company) and picked up my bars in the Bon Ami distribution center, which is located in a limestone cave. An interesting experience to be on carved roads large enough for semi trailers in the cave!

Jeff Lang - Bon Ami

Marjorie,
I was speaking with a guy who lives in KC the other day... Tim Cox. He said he went to the factory downtown to purchase some of the bars & the folks there said they will not be manufacturing the bar soap any longer. Tim said something about it being too expensive to make that way, & sales have been declining for years for the bar soap. He also said they still have an abundant stock, but don't know how long it will last.
Did you hear anything similar while you were there? I sure hope it was just a rumor. Any info would be great.
Thanks,
Jeff

Marjorie Meyer - Yes...Bon Ami Cakes are being Discontinued

Hi Jeff,

The person from the Underground just checked with their HQ. She just called and told me your rumor about Bon Ami Cleaning Cake being discontinued is true. They have stock on hand, but when it is gone that's it. Their number is 1-800-892-8022.

She was unaware of this until now. Ignore my message below.

Danny Baronian

The 800 number listed in the post is a company called Agelong, that amoung other things, sells household products unrelated to Bon Ami, they are not the manufacture.

I called Bon Ami directly and spoke to the companies chemist. They were still working on and producing the product, and said they were unaware of any changes. While I didn't ask, my impression is that Bon Ami might be their only product.

Danny

Barbara J. Brooks

I am also trying to locate bon ami glass cleaner please advise THANK YOU

Marjorie Meyer

Danny,

You are correct Age Long is a distributor of the Faultless Starch/Bon Ami product line (which is laundry products, cleaners (Bon Ami), garden items, etc.), and not the manufacturer. The manufacturer is the Faultless Starch/Bon Ami Company and is based in Kansas City, MO.

Call 816-842-1230, customer service for the Faultless Starch/Bon Ami Company if you need confirmation. The cake form of Bon Ami is being discontinued. It is only the cake form, not the Bon Ami original powder.

Marjorie Meyer

I don't think the link for Bon Ami posted. It is www.bonami.com.

Bon Ami URL
http://www.theletterheads.com/wwwboard/ ... /3938.html

Mike Jackson - Kaolin

Hi Danny and the rest,
According to page 12 of Rick's last catalog,

"KAOLIN: White/tan pounce powder. No residue problems as with talcum powder. Packaged in one pint canning jars."

"SHADOW KAOLIN:Unlike our regular kaolin pounce powder, this is an extremely fine white pharmaceutical grade which when wiped over a smooth surface will leave a distinct frosted film. An optical aid in applying gold size to letter centers for normal matte or conves effects. Use on boards or vahicles when visibility is difficult. For background colors in a neutral range, lightly wipe over surface first then pounce your design with black. Packaged in 4 oz. jars with an application pad."

Looks like the issue on these two items is the fineness or coarseness. Stephen Parrish's can calls if Spanish Whiting. It is very fine.

Mike Jackson

Sarah King

Whiting is chalk - powdered calcium carbonate - an inert fine white powder that stained glass studios and other glass guys use to polish glass and make putty. Other folks use it to mark football fileds or to "paint" on glass to block the view. You can buy it at stained glass supply stores, hardware stores and some paint stores. It is made by Synko and Amchem.

If you want to use it to clean your glass, mix about one fluid ounce of household amonia with a quart of water and use that to make a thin paste with the whiting to scrub the glass with a sponge or a felt eraser. A lot of mirror guys think that cerium oxide is more effective, but using the whiting first, rinsing it off and then using a thin paste of cerium oxide could get the glass really clean.

I don't think that whiting and Kaolin are the same thing. The Kaolin sold online is about double the price of whiting.

Mike King

Kaolin is used in pottery, is expensive and chemically is hydrated aluminum silicate.

Whiting, as Sarah says, is chalk which is calcium carbonate and the same stuff the White Cliffs of Dover are made of - marine skeletons.

"Blackboard chalk" is actually calcium sulfate.

Real chalk dissolves in acids, like vinegar, while blackboard chalk is chemically the same thing as what you get when a kettle of hard water boils dry. It needs stronger chemicals to dissolve it.

All are abrasives to a greater or lesser extent.