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So i've been thinking of getting my hands on some lava beads to use as paint agitators and was wondering what peoples opinions are on them are.
I've also noticed that they come as either waxed or unwaxed. Is one preferable to the other?
Are they also worth the money? Is there a better option entirely?

Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated!

They make small glass orbs that are designed to go into mini paint pots and dropperbottles for mixing paints.

Unlike most other similar materials the glass wont react with the paint (metal balls rust) and cause discoloration.

I think i got 40 of them off ebay for a couple bucks?

I considered them and glass beads, but opted to go for marine grade stainless nuts in the end. I'd imagine that unwaxed would be better, and just wash them first.

I wouldn't really bother with these, we looked into these as a type of agitator and while they would be ok for washes and to a lesser extent metallics, they are far too light to be useful in paint.

Glass beads are ok, but you are better off just getting stainless steel ball bearings.

I got some glass beads, but found that they were too light.

I bought some hematite beads off eBay for pretty cheap. I like them better than the glass ones because they are heavier. And, as a crystallized, stable form of iron-oxide, they really shouldn't ever rust. None have in the year I've had them in so far.

Thanks for the thoughts, fellas. I've gone and bought some 6mm stainless steel ball bearings, as yeah the lava beads all seemed to be pretty light weight.

Another related question.
What are peoples thoughts on using multiple smaller beads as opposed to one larger one? Smaller ones aren't going to be as heavy, but they'll rattle around together and would be better at getting into edges and the like. I think...

Or you could just try stirring. Just scroll past the Orcs.

Well gak... If that ain't just clever.

I got in this a little late, but I used lava beads and like had been said, they are a little too light. I still use them with minitaire ghost ghost tints, which settle but are also very thin, but they're not great with actual mini paint.

I use hematite beads for everything else. They're cheap, and I don't have to worry about them rusting and discoloring the paint. So, make that 2 votes for hematite.

The reason I chose marine stainless nuts over ball bearings is that they don't block the dropper