Hi to all.
I have a silver question for those of you that work in that metal. I
haven’t in over 20 years so I am a little rusty as to how clean oxidation
off of a necklace. My wife has a very nice squash blossom necklace that
she liked to wear a long time ago (until it oxidized). I told her that
oxidation was normal for silver, but she refuses to wear it until it is
cleaned and polished. How do you go about cleaning a necklace of this
type without taking it apart and polishing each and every piece of it?
Thanks for any help in this quest.
Barry Hansen
Hansen Designs
Corona, California
Hello Barry:
Swest has a great tarnish remover. It’s purple and smells like rotten
eggs, but it works.
Michael Mathews Victoria,Texas USA
Hi Barry:
The gentlest way I know to clean it would be to buy a nice cream
paste like gorham and it comes with a sponge and it goes very quickly if
you just dappen the sponge slightly and then rinse it and it should come
out great with a nice warm glow, most of the dips could be harmful to the
turquoise and makes it a stark harsh white! Sincerely Chris
http://www.tace.com/glitters
Barry,
If it is stabilized turquoise you could try the Calgon (or Arm & Hammer
Super Washing Soda) and water with aluminum foil. Be careful, don’t let
it sit in the solution. Just a minute or so and rinse. It may take
repeated steps or you could suspend all but the tq part in the solution.
If it isn’t stabilized I would use Flitz metal polish with a Selvyt cloth.
After you get it clean, wrap in jewelers tissue, and keep it in a zip
lock bag with a 3M anti tarnish strip.
I have used the Calgon solution on tq (both stabilized and unstabilized)
and haven’t noticed any color change, but long term it could have an
effect. Of course, don’t use Tarnex or you will still have to take apart
and polish each and every piece!!
This is what I would do, but glad you asked, I’ll be interested in other
opinions.
Nancy <@nbwidmer>
ICQ # 9472643
Bacliff, Texas Gulf Coast USA
G’day Barry; One way is firstly to degrease the work by gently scrubbing
with a soft toothbrush using a hot household detergent solution plus a
little ammonia. Rinse and suspend in a bowl containing a hot solution of
’washing soda’ (sodium carbonate) with some aluminium kitchen foil on the
bottom of the bowl. There will probably be fizzing from the foil, which
is elemental and highly active hydrogen gas being generated. It is so
active that it will combine with the silver sulphide on the jewellery,
carrying it away as hydrogen sulphide and leaving the surface cleaned.
Unfortunately it will not leave a highly polished surface; the sulphide
ate into the silver, and it’s removal will leave microscopic pits which
give the work a duller appearance.
I use a (home made) vibrating polisher to brighten things up a bit.
Cheers,
/ \
/ /
/ /
/ /__| \ @John_Burgess2
(______ )
At sunny Nelson NZ (in winter)
If there are NO stones . . . throw it into pickle and then tumble with
stainless steel shot. IF there are stones, you might want to try a
unisonic (NOT ULTRASONIC). SpeedBright may do the trick . . .
I have a silver question for those of you that work in that metal. I
haven’t in over 20 years so I am a little rusty as to how clean oxidation
off of a necklace.
Hi Barry and Diana
I think that the shortest way is to drop it into potassium cyanide. Pinch
your nose put on the ventilation, put the cyanide in a glass jar and hold
it in the ultrasonic cleaner. Rinse it in lukewarm water, longer if there
is some hollow parts. The job will be done in 30 seconds, then polish it
with rouge. The problem is the toxicity of cyanide. A lot of people drops
the cyanide each time they use it, you can keep it many years in a good
lab glass jar. I think I’ve got the same for 3 years. Electrocleaning can
also be a good solution. Be carefull with these stuffs
Vincent Guy Audette
I am sure there are various techniques, but on pieces that have a lot
of design elements that are fragile, I’ve found that the dipping-type
liquid silver polish works very well. This is available at most large
grocery stores. Simply dip the item in the liquid then rinse the piece
off in water.
If there are NO stones . . . throw it into pickle and then tumble with
stainless steel shot.
I actually did this to a chain necklace with a nonporous stone in it. I
wrapped the stone and it’s base in a type of tape which hospitals use for
bandages (not regular adhesive tape). The stuff stuck to the stone and the
silver and didn’t leave a residu and the necklace came out great. As
always, your results may vary. kathi parker, MoonScape Designs
kparker001@aol.com
Try Jeweler’s Secret–from Rio Grande–it can clean jewelry with
turquoise and pearls and other soft stones.
it’s a foam, and works really well.