Beads have been popular items in arts and crafts for centuries. Glass and plastic beads have myriad uses when it comes to craft projects for either decorative personal use, home decor or as gifts for family and friends. Sometimes the two types of beads cannot be distinguishable from each other. Thus, a few tricks are needed to tell the difference between plastic beads and glass beads.

1. Pick up the bead in your bare hand. Glass beads initially feel cool to the touch, because they are much denser than acrylic beads, which are most commonly used to imitate the glass beads. On the other side, the glass beads warm up pretty quickly in the hand, while it takes longer for the acrylic beads to change temperature.

2. Measure the weight of the beads. Generally, the acrylic beads are much lighter than glass beads.

3. If you have spare beads, you can also tell the difference by lightly tapping them with a hammer. Place the bead on a hard surface and tap it with the hammer. A glass bead will crack quite easily, while the hammer will bounce off a plastic bead under a light blow.