Green patina

Jewelry Discussion
1

i I am brand new and creative in many. I have begin to make objects
for my new shoppe to open in Sprong, need to know hoe to oxidize
natirally metal bolds,nuts and fittings of metal. I live in CT. near
the ocean. I am sure salt h20 would help but is there a quicker way
to do this Please advise @perfectp Thank you very much
Patricia Alexie Wainwright needs green patina

2

Hi Patricia Green Patina is made by NOVACAN it used to turn copper
green. the company that makes it is Novacan IND, Vancouver, Canada V3H
3K8… But you can purchase it at any stained glass store, the kind
that does supplies and glass. They will be in the yellow pages or on
the net under Stained glass Suppliers. I have used it and it works
great. Hurricane Floyd survivor, Susan Chastain

3

Try Jax green patina. A natural green patina can take 20 years to
build up!!!

4

I missed the original post but wanted to add that I’ve used sawdust
and ammonia in closed container to patina copper pieces. They looked
great! Just put tape over any parts that you don’t want to be green .
Hang the pieces in the container and in a few days they’ll be ready.

Sharon Beadecked and Beaddicted Akron, OH
Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos @Sharon_Hessoun
Feed the Hungry: http://www.thehungersite.com It’s free!

5

Yes a natural green patina can take years to build up but there is
another way. Salt water can make wonderful patinas. I had a really
experience using salt water from a reef aquarium. Natural salt water
contains many different chemicals. To maintain a reef aquarium lots
of chemicals in small amounts are added. Like magnesium, iodine, and
calcium to name a few. Every few weeks the water needs to be changed
and so I used some of the water to dip a piece in. It took a few
weeks but I would periodically take the piece out and let it dry out.
With some experimentation I think some great results can be had and
you don’t have to live by the ocean to get these results. Marglyph
Berrier

6 
        I've used sawdust and ammonia in closed container to patina
copper pieces. They looked great! Just put tape over any parts that
you don't want to be green . Hang the pieces in the container and in
a few days they'll be ready.

Could you tell a little more? Such as the ratio? Or does it matter
what kind of sawdust or what kind of ammonia (sudsy? plain?) and does
it matter what kind of a container? thanks so much! rhoda

7

Re: Green patina-Cut the bottom off a gallon plastic jug (not
Clorox)Paint your copper piece with a saturated salt solution, suspend
by string in jug over a saucer of clear ammonia. Check for desired
green , If you leave it in longer you can get beautiful Blues too. Bill from Long Island

8

Re: Green patina.If you paint your copper with a saturated salt
solution,cut the bottom off a gallon plastic jug and suspend the
piece by string inside the jug over a small bowl of ammonia you will
get a green patina or if you leave it longer a beautiful blue. keep
checking until you get the color you want.-Bill from long island

9

The story around the Old West End in Toledo says that when the Toledo
Museum of Art was built, back around the turn of the century, the
copper roof was given its lovely green patina by applying many
gallons of horse urine - of course, that particular by-product of the
chief mode of transport was much more readily available in Grandma’s
day, but with proper diligence I’m sure a sufficient quantity could
still be obtained. Determination of the requisite amounts and
concentrations of said patinate is left as an excercise for the
student.

10

A great patina for copper. One of my students taught me to put a paper
towel in a sealable plastic container, put in the copper pieces, and
pour ammonia over the pieces and soak the paper towel. Then sprinkle
the pieces with salt, table salt. I then cover the pieces with another
paper towel soaked in the ammonia and then I sprinkle some more salt
on this paper towel. Close it up for a day or two and you will get a
very pretty blue/green patina that seems to be “tight” on the metal. I
have even bent the pieces with out the patina cracking or peeling off
as some do.

Ratios are just soak the towels, do not have the copper covered by
the ammonia. Sprinkle the salt on both the copper and the paper
towels, like I do on my favorite “fried potatoes”, a lot!

I have put this patina even on twisted 18 guage copper wire that I
then bend in to small copper sculptures. Then I spray them with clear
enamel to make it even more permenent.

I will try to put together an “Online Class” on my web site, this
week and have under “Tips and Tricks” by the end of the month.

Don Norris
@Donald_Norris
PO Box 2433 Estes Park, CO 80517

11 
copper roof was given its lovely green patina by applying many
gallons of horse urine -

Ok…I’ll bite…as I have a more than sufficient supply of horse
urine…i.e. two horses readily available for testing purposes. I’ll
give it a try, and let you know.

Lisa,( its so hot here…my son Wolfie and I, are going to the local Thai Festival
for the day…yum yum…Thai food) Topanga, CA USA

12

Rhoda
I just went over to my Dad’s workshop and got a few handfuls of
sawdust off the floor. Then I poured enough ammonia in to make it
moist. Use a container that has a tight-fitting lid. I bought a cheap
plastic container with a good tight lid at the dollar store. I used
paper clips to create hangers for the pieces and left them several
days. I used some masking tape to hold the clips to the sides along
the rim and the tight lid helped hold them in place. The pieces
hanging should not be in the sawdust - just in the open space in the
container. Hope this answers your questions. Be prepared! When you
open it up, the smell is extremely strong. You’ll see condensation
forming inside the container - that’s OK.

Sharon Beadecked and Beaddicted Akron, OH
Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos @Sharon_Hessoun
Feed the Hungry: http://www.thehungersite.com It’s free!

13 
copper roof was given its lovely green patina by applying many

gallons of horse urine

OK, a teacher told me this one. They put a bronze piece in the male
urinals at school for a week. Lovely green patina at the end of the
week.

14 
the copper roof was given its green patina by applying many gallons
of horse urine.

…In the horse & buggy days it might have been a cheap and practical
method of patination (short of getting Pegasus to fly a bombing run
over the roof)…This was an age-old way of producing ammonia.
Today, we can bypass the horse and take advantage of commercially
produced ammonia. Add some salt and soak your copper and it will turn
green or blue depending on the strength of your solution and the
length of time you keep your copper in it. >D<

15 
the rim and the tight lid helped hold them in place. The pieces
hanging should not be in the sawdust - just in the open space in the
container.

I once worked at a place where we did a lot of patinas - they didn’t
give out the formulas. But one of them contained amonia (sp) in sawdust
but the pieces were buried in the sawdust. This gave some great
textures and irregularities. Oh, and the type (tree species) of the
sawdust made a difference in the colors (shades) produced. I believe
the formulas were from that ‘Patination…’ book from England, sorry
I don’t have the name and authors handy right now. I hope this will
inspire some of you to try it.

Lorri

16

OK this is getting really gross and all, but doesn’t urine (of any
animal) have ammonia in it? And it’s the ammonia that is creating
the green patina right?

Elaine

17 
   OK, a teacher told me this one. They put a bronze piece in the
male urinals at school for a week. Lovely green patina at the end of
the week.

Some large bronze casting studios do the exact same thing, except
they call it the “Patina Pot”!

Don Norris
@Donald_Norris
PO Box 2433 Estes Park, CO 80517

18

If you put the ammonia and salt in a container with Fresh Step (a
brand name) Kitty Litter, you get some really lovely blues.

19

I knew a bronze sculptor who buried his pieces in the cat box. (I
thought it was just a fancy excuse not to clean the cat box…)
Rene Roberts

20

Ok I realized not long after my last post that you guys are joking
about the ways to get a green patina. I mean I believe it USED to be
done like that SOMETIMES but not anymore right?? RIGHT??? The whole
thing skeeves me out. Now every time I see some antique with a green
patina my mind will be racing. ewwwwwwww :slight_smile:

Elaine