And an added thought, Emily. While accidental contact with iron is the most common culprit for copper plating on silver in jewelry making, it is not the only metal that can do it. The zinc in a brass alloy can react this way in mixed metal jewelry, though it stops as soon as the zinc in the surface of the brass is etched off. Another sometimes mysterious one is nickle. A common situation is when a commercially made silver chain gets copper plated seemingly without cause. These chains are often rhodium plated (or other, similar metals that won’t tarnish), and usually, the rhodium requires an initial understate of nickle. Anywhere where the rhodium us missing or too thin can let the nickle force copper out of the solution. The only real solution is not to put such chains in the pickle unless it is newly mixed so has no copper in it…
Peter
Thanks Peter. I have found recipe for removing the copper which involves combining 24 grams of sodium hydroxide and 5 grams of zinc powder in solution for 3 minutes. Has anyone tried this?
Brilliant hint! I’ve never heard this one before. Thanks.
You are welcome