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TKB White Colorant FAQ

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Kaila Westerman
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The Problem TKB offers a variety of white colors.  All of these colors are either pure mica, pure titanium dioxide (a natural white mineral pigment) or a combination of the two.

It can be difficult to see the differences between our whites by looking at photos, so we offer a little extra information to help you in your decision-making.

The basic differences are:

  • How translucent vs. opaque? A white which is translucent will tend to be more see-through.  One which is opaque is said to be high in "coverage".  It will have more "hiding power" and it will tend to whiten any other color with which it is mixed. What makes a color more or less translucent has to do with both its particle size (the larger the particle size the more translucent) as well as the percentage of titanium dioxide in the mix (the more titanium dioxide, the more opaque it will be).
     
  • How shimmery vs. matte is the color?  A mica which is larger in particle size will tend to be more shimmery, while the reverse is true for the small particle sizes.  A shimmery mica will tend to average around 25 microns (and up) while a more matte mica will tend to average around 5 microns.
  
     
Our Whites This table shows our colors from the most translucent and sparkly first to the more opaque and matte last.
Color Particle Size % TiO2
Diamond Cluster 65-82 microns Avg. 13%
Sparkle White Avg. 50 microns 14% - 20%
Translucent White 41-51 microns Avg. 15%
Flamenco Super Pearl 23 - 27 microns 22% - 33%
Pearl White Avg. 30 microns Avg. 30%
Extra Bright Avg. 19 microns 25% - 31%
Satin White Avg. 19 microns 27%-37%
Velvet White Avg. 12 microns 32% - 42%
 
     
About Micron Sizes This dot: "." is approximately 1/64th of an inch and equals 615 microns.

A micron is 1 millionth of a meter, and a nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter. Here are some common items and their respective particle sizes:

How big is big?  This dot: "." is approximately 1/64th of an inch and equals 615 microns.

A micron is 1 millionth of a meter, and a nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter. Here are some common items and their respective particle sizes:

Eye of a needle 1,230 microns
Human hair 40-300 microns
Tobacco Smoke 0.01 - 1 microns
Beach Sand 100 - 2000 microns
Pollen 10 - 1000  microns
Typical atmospheric dust 0.001 - 30 microns
TKB's Regular Titanium Dioxide 1.0 - 1.7 microns
TKB's Lo-Micron Zinc Oxide 0.31 microns
TKB's Micronized Titanium Dioxide 0.0015 microns

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