6 ms·
Here's a huge thread on Reddit trying to figure out which mystery industry is the largest buyer of glitter: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comment
by ohadron 8y ago
Here's a huge thread on Reddit trying to figure out which mystery industry is the largest buyer of glitter: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/a8hrk0/which_mystery_industry_is_the_largest_buyer_of/ https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/a8hrk0...
No conclusive results yet, but I believe Reddit will deliver.
- cperciva 8y agoI thought the answer was right in the article: Automotive paint. They've got a lot of surface area to cover, and car companies want their vehicles to shine.
- ohadron 8y agoMakes sense and could be it, but somewhere in that reddit thread there's a car paint guy who claims they use pure aluminium particles and not just aluminium painter polymer.
- ken 8y agoI don't think automotive manufacturers would be worried about people knowing that their shiny paint contains glitter. Also, there are a lot of cars in the world, but most just get painted once. My first guess would be a consumable. Maybe food-related, where we don't expect (or want) glitter. The "toothpaste" guess sounds like it's on the right track. "Fast food" wouldn't entirely surprise me, either.
- jey 8y agoIt's still probably under NDA and the glitter suppliers are contractually forbidden from revealing their customers. It'd be up to the customer to reveal it.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- LowLevelHacker 8y agoIt's toothpaste
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- code_duck 8y agoI thought the answer was given in the article as Revlon. Nail polish, eyeshadow, lipstick, blush... all can contain micro glitter particles. I wonder, what is the total surface area painted by cosmetics each year?
- kingbirdy 8y agoThat's hardly secretive or unexpected, though - everyone knows cosmetics contain glitter
- DanBC 8y agoI don't think most consumers know that their lipstic or eyeshadow contains microplastics.
- mbreese 8y agoI'd wager that they either know or don't want to know...
- tomcam 8y agoI didn’t. Had I considered it I would have assumed that at least in the US regulations would prohibit its inclusion.
- code_duck 8y agoWhatever the product may be, it sparkles, so it can’t be much of a secret.
- DanBC 8y agoDoes this product contain glitter? https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-djINoSKP6FQ/T_2q9sPNqZI/AAAAAAAAAVI/QTZsxQZT-To/s1600/mac,+turquatic,+blue,+glitter,+eyeshadow,+cheryl+cole,+blue+smokey,+blue+glitter,+blog,+look+2.jpg https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-djINoSKP6FQ/T_2q9sPNqZI/AAAAAAAAA...
- 8y ago
- lifeformed 8y agoI thought that too but I think that line was just worded awkwardly. It was meant as a change of topic to end the writer's insistence. For reference: > I asked if she would tell me off the record. She would not. I asked if she would tell me off the record after this piece was published. She would not. I told her I couldn’t die without knowing. She guided me to the automotive grade pigments.
- CPLX 8y agoThis is the answer, the article isn’t being particularly subtle about it.
- schrodinger 8y agoI like the Apple products theory. All those metallic MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads would certainly add up to a massive demand.
- lostlogin 8y agoThe ones I’m looking at are straight metal or anodised metal. It isn’t Apple.
- unixhero 8y agoI too have faith. If not to that sub, then the peeps over at /r/rbi and /r/whatisthisthing has achieved incredible findings
- DanBC 8y agoI'm guessing the cosmetics industry, and they want to keep it quiet because microplastics is a hot-topic at the moment.
- dom96 8y agoLush is pretty good with this stuff. It seems that they have switched recently to synthetic mica due to child labor concerns: https://www.lushusa.com/story?cid=article_all-that-glitters https://www.lushusa.com/story?cid=article_all-that-glitters
- kraftman 8y agoyeah i think this the most likely one as well, people wont like finding out theyre rubbing glitter into their hair/skin
- ruddct 8y agoCurrency is my favorite theory from this (and would explain the extreme secrecy). Take a look inside your wallet, it's probably a little glittery. (Related: For those who enjoyed the photos in this article, make sure to follow the photographer's Instagram, it's incredible. https://www.instagram.com/chrismaggio/ https://www.instagram.com/chrismaggio/)
- foobarian 8y agoI thought defense would be another likely user. Chaff would use huge quantities of it.
- knodi123 8y agoChaff is a little different. For instance, most glitter is plastic, and plastic wouldn't do any good against radar. Here's what it really looks like: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Usnchaff.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Usnchaff...
- trevyn 8y agoBut but metallized plastic! Yup, wiki says it can be metallized plastic: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_(countermeasure) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_(countermeasure)
- DanBC 8y agoDoesn't chaff work by being an aerial? And so it needs to be a certain length? http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/sites/default/files/file/aluminum_6/6QH_12_2001_U.S._Navy_Human_Environmental_Issues_Related_to_Use_of_Radio_Frequency_Chaff_October_2001.pdf http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/sites/default/fil... > Chaff consists of aluminum-coated glass fibers (also referred to as dipoles) ranging in lengths from 0.8 to 0.75 cm. > Figure 1. Radio frequency chaff cartridges (Air Force version RR-188/AL, top; Navy version RR-144/AL, bottom) and chaff fibers (right). Fibers of different lengths can be seen in the Navy operational version (clear cylinder). These lengths correspond to the frequency modes of the radar spectrum
- EarthIsHome 8y agoIt's probably the jewelery industry to help make their precious and rare rocks sparkle and shine. I'm sure knowing that glitter is used in a diamond ring would turn a lot of people away.
- cf498 8y agoI love how one of the most up voted answers boiled down to "the military" https://old.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/a8hrk0/which_mystery_industry_is_the_largest_buyer_of/ecbc3tn/ https://old.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/a8hrk0... >defense department would be extremely secretive >And they very much wouldn't care about the environmental impact >A few hundred tons of glitter is significantly less bad than thousands of tons of agent orange and dioxin. >And depleted uranium
- mjlee 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_(countermeasure) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_(countermeasure) I guess it's possible chaff is made by Glitterex.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- coredog64 8y agoPSA: Depleted uranium is so-called because it has less radioactivity than the dangerous stuff (U-235). It's a toxic heavy metal, but it doesn't present any serious radioactivity danger.
- itronitron 8y agoyep, depleted uranium bars are used within helicopter blades to equalize the momentum along their length. it's a very heavy metal
- feint 8y agoI'm guessing floor tiles/fake stone benchtops. Huge market that would require a lot of glitter and it's not something you initially think would contain glitter. The expensive fake stone benchtops would feel "cheaper" if you knew that it was just glitter making them look good.
- salgernon 8y agoI was thinking asphalt and concrete - it seems that New York uses a specific percentage of mica flakes in their sidewalks, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find that roadways would use something to aid reflectivity as well.
- titanomachy 8y agoWhy would a local government be secretive about what they put in roads?
- anon_cow1111 8y agoI looked road markings up earlier because it was also my first guess, but everything I've seen indicates they just use plain glass microspheres in reflective paint and such. For the roads themselves, more reflective might be a bad thing anywhere that sees heavy snowfall. Less sunlight absorbed=colder roads=more snow buildup and many other related problems. None of these uses would need to be kept secret though.
- lotyrin 8y agoYeah, the microspheres have the property of being very retroreflective (shine headlamp light directly back toward a driver efficiently) and so get used in lots of automotive visibility scenarios.
- crazygringo 8y agoMany people are mentioning chaff, and heck, literally the first sentence of the Wikipedia article says: "metallized glass fibre(fiber) or plastic" [1] Metallized pastic sounding a lot like... glitter. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_(countermeasure) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_(countermeasure)
- DanBC 8y agoI thought that chaff couldn't be very much. If you believe this source it's about 500 tons per year, which is very much more than I thought. http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/sites/default/files/file/aluminum_6/6QH_12_2001_U.S._Navy_Human_Environmental_Issues_Related_to_Use_of_Radio_Frequency_Chaff_October_2001.pdf http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/sites/default/fil...
- todd3834 8y agoFor sure I think it is toothpaste.
- nyolfen 8y agomy guess was large denomination US dollars
- DonHopkins 8y agoThe makers of "Passion Dust" are pretty upfront about the benefits of putting "magically delicious" glitter in your vagina, so it's probably not them. But I wonder what flavoring they're using? https://www.self.com/story/do-not-put-glitter-in-your-vagina https://www.self.com/story/do-not-put-glitter-in-your-vagina >Passion Dust is billed as an "adult novelty item" and its sole purpose is to "add a sparkle and flavor to your natural vaginal fluids to make the experience of lovemaking that much more fun and enjoyable for you and your partner." Um, ok. The flavor is apparently "sweet like candy but not overly sweet," the website says, just enough to make your partner think that your unicorn vagina is "what all vaginas are supposed to look, feel and taste like; soft, sweet and magical!" https://www.prettywomaninc.com/q-a https://www.prettywomaninc.com/q-a "The sparkling effect can last for up to 5 days." "When he looks down at his 'magic stick' and sees it shining like it's 'God's gift'. It will be weird, but he won't be mad!...He'll either be really impressed with himself or really impressed by you! You can tell him or don't."
- snibsss 8y agoWow, yuck. But all the more horrifying in light of talc conferring asbestos into cavities in ways that provoke cervical cancer.
- LowLevelHacker 8y agoTldr, it's toothpaste