# How do Bindeez / AquaBeads work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2007, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-bindeez-aquabeads-work/405050 "2007-05-22T08:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2007, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-bindeez-aquabeads-work/405050/1 "2007-05-22T08:58:22Z")
Bindeez and Aquabeads are toys consisting of little brightly-coloured spheres that are stacked together to make sculptures, models and patterns which are fixed together by spraying them with plain water. How do they work? I mean, it would seem obvious that they’re coated with, or composed of, some kind of glue, but if that’s the case, how are they prevented from sticking together in storage in the presence of atmospheric moisture? It’s definitely only water that they’re sprayed with - the adverts explicitly say so. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-bindeez-aquabeads-work/405050/2 "2007-05-22T15:25:12Z")
On their [Bindeez Tips web page](http://www.mooseworld.com.au/content/bindeez/tips.aspx), it says that you can make 3D designs by making 2D designs, drying them, and then re-wetting them and sticking them together. And that if you get random wet beads sticking to things, dry them and then remove them. So even if your beads do stick together in storage, all you have to do is dry them thoroughly, and then use them. My guess as to the physics involved is that it probably isn’t some kind of “glue”, or else you wouldn’t be able to dry them and re-wet them and use them. My guess is that it’s some kind of water-absorbing polymer, similar to those “water crystals” you can put in potted plants. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-bindeez-aquabeads-work/405050/3 "2007-05-23T07:10:57Z")
Dunno - according to the site, they don’t come unstuck when they dry out - and it says moisture makes them feel sticky. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-bindeez-aquabeads-work/405050/4 "2007-05-23T13:44:54Z")
Is this closely related to the mystery of clumping kitty litter? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-bindeez-aquabeads-work/405050/5 "2007-05-23T14:17:03Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] according to the site, they don’t come unstuck when they dry out [/QUOTE] I’m interpreting that to mean that they don’t fall apart on their own when they dry out, because otherwise your 3D creations would collapse, but that you can break them apart deliberately. My guess would be that the water-absorbing polymer, whatever it is, probably has a certain amount of water molecules that it can absorb before the surface actually starts to “feel” sticky, and to adhere to other substances. So it’s just a question of degree–once the surface gets to a certain degree of wetness, then the beads start sticking to things. And, short of baking your creations in an oven for a longer period of time than just using a hair dryer on them for a minute, you’re never going to get all the water molecules off the surface of the beads, hence your creations remain just a tad sticky at the molecular level, and they don’t fall apart when dry. I’m going to go down to Hobby Lobby and get some. To experiment with. Yes, that’s it. For an experiment. It’s not “fun”–this is Science. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-bindeez-aquabeads-work/405050/6 "2007-11-07T03:48:40Z")
Update: I never did succeed in finding some at Hobby Lobby, but today this news item appeared, and I thought for future reference, if someone’s ever searching in the archives under “bindeez”, it should probably be included. [Aqua Dots pulled from Toys “R” Us shelves](http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=291b1230-9867-4f65-83ec-60eb1bed958c&k=77329). > [@](#): > > Aqua Dots pulled from Toys “R” Us shelves > Carly Weeks, CanWest News Service > Published: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 > > OTTAWA - Retail giant Toys “R” Us Canada issued an immediate stop to sales of a popular children’s toy Tuesday and pulled remaining stock off shelves after it was discovered a similar product in Australia releases a hallucinogenic drug when swallowed and has landed two children in hospital. > > \< snip \> > > Aqua Dots, a popular toy distributed in North America by Spin Master Ltd., will not be available at the chain’s stores for the foreseeable future after it was discovered the Australian version of the toy is coated with a chemical that releases the drug gamma-hydroxy butyrate, also known as GHB or fantasy, when swallowed. > > The toy, called Bindeez and sold by Moose Enterprise in Australia, was the subject of a major recall in that country Tuesday after at least two children suffered seizures and were hospitalized when they swallowed toy beads that come with the product. Both have since recovered. [Bindeez banned for three months](http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/07/2084154.htm) > [@](#): > > The Victorian Government has banned the supply of a controversial toy blamed for making three children ill. > > The ban makes it illegal to supply the colourful craft beads Bindeez for the next three months. > > The Melbourne distributor, Moose Enterprise has already has issued a voluntary recall. > > Some children had swallowed the beads, which released the liquid ecstasy chemical, G-H-B when it was metabolised. > > The distributor has issued a recall saying some batches, imported from Hong Kong, do not meet its standards. > > It says it never approved the substitution of ingredients, nor was it aware of it. > > Moose is investigating which batches have been affected. > > The company says when the product is returned to the market it will be treated with britex which is a foul-tasting ingredient to ensure children do not eat the beads. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-bindeez-aquabeads-work/405050/7 "2007-11-07T05:21:15Z")
More of that legendary Chinese consumer protection? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-bindeez-aquabeads-work/405050/8 "2007-11-07T05:52:57Z")
Well now _I_ have to go down to Hobby Lobby to get some. To “experiment” with.