Runes



After careful thought, it was decided that maybe a few lines about the making of runestones would be helpful, so you know exactly what you are getting.



Madcatwoman Enterprises runestones are made from a wide variety of materials.  The main types are glass or assorted gemstones, but also include riverstone pebbles, sea-eroded beach glass, cowrie shells and wood.



Each set of materials for runes, when including naturally occurring shapes and sizes, are chosen to be together, not just because they were the first out of the bag, so to speak.  Within that, each particular rune is chosen for its suitability to the runestone symbol to be enscribed on it.






Generally, each gemstone is hand-written in permanent ink, generally gold or silver, but can vary according to what suits the gemstone material.  Madcatwoman Enterprises do not etch the materials as this can impede the flow of energy from the runes, causing them to become congested.



The rune symbols are then sealed with a hardwearing varnish according to the material.  For example gemstones and glass tend to be shiny so are sealed with gloss varnish, whereas sea-glass and riverstones tend to be less shiny so a matt varnish is used.  Satin varnish is used for those inbetween.  On wooden runes, the varnish used is not wood varnish, which is used for furniture and fittings purposes, but a high quality craft varnish (as described above) is used.  This is due to impurities in wood varnish which Madcatwoman Enterprises feels could block or impede energy flow from the runes.  Ok, so the varnish we use is much more expensive, but it is always worth going that extra mile and paying a little more for the varnish which is best suited to the job.


The rune symbols are safely sealed behind a coat of varnish (or two coats in more porous and absorbant materials).  This varnish is only used on the one side of the runestone where the symbols are.  This then inhibits damage through use, yet leaves the rest of the rune stones free to exude their energies without it all being sealed inside.

These are then left to dry, generally overnight.  Even though the varnish is touch-dry in 30 minutes, we feel the extra time is beneficial to ensuring there are no sticky surfaces which could damage the look of the stones.

As the ink used is permanent, and the varnish is a hard-wearing and long-lasting one, obviously if runes are being used often, they need to be checked for longevity.  If the symbols disappear, then the runes are no good to the customer or recipient.  When selling, potential customers have asked if the symbols wear off quickly as they had had bad experiences after buying runes from some websites, shops or on auction sites.  Rest assured that Madcatwoman Enterprises have carried out their own tests into the durability of the stones and symbols.

Our first test was to take test runes and submerge them in boiling water.  We were not exactly sure who would be planning to par-boil their runes for five minutes, but we figured it would be quite good for testing temperature extremities.  We also tried a test of three minutes duration.  On the three minute test, the runes were still in perfect condition.  When being immersed for five minutes, immediately they were removed from the water, the varnish appeared have softened, which when left to cool, the varnish regained its previous strength so no damage was caused.  However when the varnish was soft after five minutes, brisk scrubbing removed the varnish, but the symbols remained intact.

We scrubbed the permanent ink symbols in cool water (10 degrees C), hand-hot water (20 degrees C) and hot (30 degrees C).  At each water temperature, the sample runestones were scrubbed with various implements.

Wire wool - it took just over two minutes to completely remove the varnish and symbol in all water temperatures.

Washing up sponge with rough side - using the rough side, it took almost six minutes to remove the varnish and symbol in all water temperatures.

General sponge - we gave in after ten minutes in all categories as neither the varnish nor the symbol had eroded.

p.s. we didn't try a dishwasher or a washing machine, so please don't try them at home, we cannot guarantee damage will not occur to your runes by doing this!

Next was an abrasive test.  To simulate regular use, several stones were held in a warm hand for ten minute periods each day for a week.  After a week, there was no sign of any damage to varnish nor symbol.

The final test was using sandpaper. Within one minute 30 seconds, the varnish had been mainly removed.  However, the symbol still remained intact.

Because of these tests, we believe that Madcatwoman Enterprises's runestones have good longevity and are suitable for regular use - and as they also withstand such rigorous tests, we are confident that these are of a good enough quality to last for many years of normal usage.

We are so confident in this that should your Madcatwoman Enterprises runes fade, peel or the symbols erode within twelve months of purchase, please contact us and provided they have not received extreme use (such as those used in our tests detailed above), then we will happily re-ink and re-varnish them for you.

If there is anything else you would like to see on these pages, please contact us using the form on the contact page.

Madcatwoman Enterprises states the following:

1. If you wish to be added to our emailing list, please email sales@madcatwoman.co.uk with details.  The mailing list will be purely used to send details of special offers, new items and so on.  It will NOT be used to coerce you to buy in any way, and you can always ask to be removed from the mailing list by emailing the word "unsubscribe" to sales@madcatwoman.co.uk.  Your details will always remain private and will never be passed onto a third party as we consider this to be unethical and violating personal privacy.  Adding your date of birth is optional, however should you decide to add your date of birth, Madcatwoman Enterprises will send an e-card for your birthday.  You only live once, so celebrate!

**** please note ****

In April 2008, a pc problem caused the loss of the entire mailing list.  Therefore if you wish to be on our mailing list, please give us your details again.  Sorry for any inconvenience!

2. As much as is humanly possible, Madcatwoman Enterprises to use ethical wholesalers, and to recycle where possible.  "Freshly caught wizards" and "Freshly caught fairies" in a jar are made from recycled glass as far as possible. Packaging is recycled, not just to save us having to charge the customer more, but as a decision to attempt to cause as little damage to the earth as possible.  Madcatwoman Enterprises also uses car insurance which offsets the annual carbon emissions, and uses unbleached cotton in our bags.

3. Madcatwoman Enterprises will never knowingly trade in items that have been tested on, or have been harmful to animals.

4.  Where possible, standard orders will be despatched in five working days or less.  For special orders, large orders, and personalisation orders, these will be despatched, where possible in ten working days or less.   Should something have been damaged in transit, please contact us and we will do what we can to solve the problem.

5.  All items are described as precisely as possible.  However, should there be a problem, please contact us.