... First, I tried ultra sound and while it cleans it, there is
still no silver shine.
Ultrasonic cleaners work by generating microscopic cavitation bubbles
that expand and collapse at (literally) supersonic speeds where the
liquid cleaner contacts the surface. This, with professional or
commercial quality cleaners, can be a quite aggressive scrubbing
action. With soft metals like silver, many ultrasonic cleaners are
capable of actually attacking the surface finish, leaving it duller
than it was before. The problem is most dramatically shown with soft
cast items, where the ultrasonic energy tends to concentrate at
defects, such as surface porosity, and these sometimes come out of
the ultrasonic showing streaks of matte white, just like the finish
you see after heating and pickling, even if the item looked fully
polished when it went into the cleaner. Drawn wire or chain made from
it won’t likely show that dramatic surface damage, but you should not
expect an ultrasonic cleaner to actually brighten the metal’s finish.
It scrubs the surface, and with the right cleaning agent, will very
effectively remove dirt, and sometimes tarnish (though it’s not as
good at that). But that scrubbing can actually dull the finish more
than brighten it. Usually not that much, but still, understand the
potential exists.
...I too thought putting it in Stainless Steel Shot would be
destructive, and although I never leave it in long, it does help
quite a bit to restore some brightness. BUT, you have to be ready
to pick out some of the shot from the Viking weave, not always
easy.
Steel shot (stainless or standard) is a GREAT way to give silver a
nice bright burnished surface. It not only shines, but burnishes and
compacts the surface, which increases resistance to future
tarnishing. There are limits as to just how bright it can get, when
compared to a buffed polish, but it’s still good, and with the right
shot, can often get into details that a buff cannot reach. If you
have designs which trap the shot, so you have to spend time picking
it out again, remember that shot is available in a number of shapes
and sizes. The common mixed shot of multiple shapes and sizes is not
always the best choice. If you pick shapes that are just a tad too
big to get trapped in your design, you will give up a little of the
burnishing down into the deepest details, but you’ll then also have
solved the problem of shot getting trapped in the pieces.
Also, when it does get trapped, you sometimes can easily remove a
fair amount of it with the ultrasonic cleaner. The vibrations tend to
dislodge stuck shot. Not all of it, and you don’t want to leave it in
long enough to risk the surface scuffing I mentioned before, but it
still can be useful.
Also, I always keep everything in plastic bags in a drawer, and
after all the cleaning never leave out in the air and that extends
the life.
If you’re storing in plastic bags, do yourself an added favor and
get some of the 3M tarnish preventing paper. This looks like black
construction paper, and is available in sheets, strips, and precut
little tabs. It works very well in enclosed spaces, to eliminate the
sulphur compounds in the air that cause the tarnishing. Put one of
the tabs into the plastic bag along with your silver, and it will
remain clean while it stays in that plastic bag.
After I weave a chain, I always put it through the ultra sound to
clean off the oils from my hands making it, but I finish with the
sunshine cloth.
No doubt some cleaning is good, but keep in mind that aggressive
action of the ultrasonic and what it can do to silver. In addition to
visible dulling, at the microscopic level, it not only can get the
surface almost chemically clean, but the scrubbing can also tend to
open pores. The result of the two is that the surface, though clean,
may actually be more actively exposed to potentially tarnishing
effects of the atmosphere. Think of it a bit like cleaning your
hands. Soap and water get it clean. Really rough scrubbing with soap
and water leave your skin a bit raw and tender. Then you need hand
lotion… In the case of silver, too aggressive cleaning especially
with an ultrasonic can leave a surface that will tarnish again more
quickly than it might have done without the cleaning, even if you go
over it with the sunshene cloth (because the cloth, though it buffs,
cannot reach all the recessed details.) Cleaning silver with an
ultrasonic is a bit of a “some is good, but more is not always
better” situation.
And the sunshine cloth not only leaves a bit of the polishing agent
on the surface, it leaves a film of chemicals in the cloth that are
specifally designed to actively retard tarnsihing. A number of other
silver polishing agents, such as Haggarty’s silver cream, etc, are
also designed to do the same. That’s why the “clean” from these
agents lasts so much longer than that from the silver dips like
Tarnex (which, like the ultrasonic, don’t polish, but do actively
attack the surface).
Peter Rowe
I don’t do any soldering of chain links,