Do Annealing Bubbles go on forever?

[helbels]

Just wondering... do you ever need to replace annealing bubbles?  Do they get less effective over time?  Or will they go on forever?!

[jobead]

Good question, if they do then they are a bargain.

[MangoBeads]

They don't go off !Being silica based they will crumble over time and blow awauy but apart from that they should last a long time .

[flowerjasper]

mine have lasted for ages so far ( they would do even better if little fingers didnt keep squashing them!)
vermiculite always went a bit dusty but the bubbles have stayed round 

[silverleaf]

Are they supposed to / able to go in a slow cooker like Vermiculite?

Helen

[MangoBeads]

They can but there is no need as they cool 3 x more slowly than the vermiculite 

[silverleaf]

ok thanks Manda

[silverlemon]

I hope you don't mind me asking....but is the crumbled bubble dust a health problem since it's silica based?

[MangoBeads]

It sinks to the bottom so on a day to day basis I would say not - certainly not in comparison to vermiculite . Vermiculite gives off a certain amount of dust when you push your mandrel in - annealing bubble is very clean in comparison . The dust will accumulate at the bottom of your container so just be careful when you dispose of it which shouldn't be for a long time.Hope that helps xx

[silverlemon]

It sinks to the bottom so on a day to day basis I would say not - certainly not in comparison to vermiculite . Vermiculite gives off a certain amount of dust when you push your mandrel in - annealing bubble is very clean in comparison . The dust will accumulate at the bottom of your container so just be careful when you dispose of it which shouldn't be for a long time.Hope that helps xx

Thank you  that sounds good