Every artist who loves to paint needs to experience the joy of using SquidPoxy Mica Powder. The Mica powder unlike its counterpart the pigment powder are shimmery and sparkly, giving a glossy effect in artworks.
Are you new to painting or this is your first time finding out what a Mica powder is, you won’t remain in the dark for long. Why? Because you will find comprehensive information on Mica powder in this article.
You’ll also learn how they differ from pigments and why so many people confuse them and even go as far using them loosely in place of each other as you may have discovered on many websites if you are already conversant with mica.
But first, what is Mica powder? These powders are obtained from grounded natural stone mineral (Mica) with shiny flakes. Many painters or paint enthusiasts make use of mica powders to create a sparkly or shimmery effect in artworks.
Mica powders are non-toxic and contrary to popular opinion, not all micas are naturally mined. Some are made in the laboratory. While the micas synthesized in the laboratory are more expensive than the naturally mined ones, they rank higher in purity tests.
Beyond ranking higher in purity tests, a trusted source says synthetic mica are also superior in quality and are much brighter in colour.
Don’t be fooled by the knowledge of synthetic micas. Micas aren’t a new scientific breakthrough studies reveal they have been around since prehistoric times. They were in use by many civilizations like Indus, Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, and Aztech in a variety of uses which are not limited to: Pueblo poetry, cave paintings, monuments, Japanese woodblock, and even Ayurveda.
Now let’s find out what pigment powders are all about…
A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water, pigment powders are similar to powdered colored chalk and are known to give colours to paint.
Pigments powder are not sparkly, they are matte. The pigment powder consists of a range of colors like ultramarine blue, cadmium red, yellow ochre, and titanium white. There are also artificial pigments with names like Pigment Blue 15.
Pigments powder are natural colourants but they won’t give a standout and perlaceous effect like mica powders. It has also been observed in the cosmetics industry that pigments are added to naturally mined micas to give a desired colour different from their raw uncoloured state.
What are the uses of Mica Powder?
- Mica powder can be applied to clay artworks to give a shiny feel. They can also be used in rubber stamps and added to paints for any painting work, even furmiture and metals.
- Mica powder is used in the production of welding electrode accessories as a secondary coat for the rod, this prevents the primary coat from cracking and acts as flux topper.
- In the petroleum and shipping industry, mica powders serve well as anticorrosive coating for pipelines and ship hulls. It also possesses the ability to eliminate noise and anti-aging qualities.
- When mixed with thermoplastic resin, mica powder is used in producing a higher quality plastic.
- Mica powders are quite useful in slime making.
- Mica powder is highly coveted in the rubber industry as lubricant and release agent in the processing of rubber products. Mica powders have been found to be quite useful in lowering production cost in this industry, particularly when they are used in place of carbon black or clay.
- Once they conform with the requirements of the FDA, Mica powders can be used in the manufacture of cosmetics products.