Boro beads becoming scratched
 

I made some Pandora size beads for a friend. She never takes the Pandora bracelet off. The boro beads look like they have been scratched up, or even frosted. Boro is made to stand up to acid, so i was surprised when she showed them to me. The glass around the holes hadn't changed. I tried cleaning them with alcohol and then whitening toothpaste. It didn't work, the beads surface didn't change. Perhaps it's hard water scale? I've always assumed that glass, especially Boro wouldn't scratch. If it is residue, hard water scale how would you clean it? CLR?

Thanks for the help. I can't stand it when my beads don't look good.

Sheila

Glass on glass scratches

Boro is about as hard as quartz, a little less. As far as stones go, this is hardish but not anything like agate or corundum.

Maybe, can you get a photo so we can see what you mean?

i've got a feeling that's why most of the big hole beads have some sort of metal grommet or core...that way glass won't touch glass it's separated by metal.

bracelets are rough on beads in general. Most glass will scratch, and boro is no exception. If she never takes it off, then it is being exposed to a lot of abrasion and dirt.