Those who tote the benefits of argentium, how do you deal with the yellow tarnish associated with it? Under what circumstances does argentium turn yellow? If you heat it up after polishing, anneal it perhaps or even better heat treat it for hardness, does the germanium oxide that layer that would build up from this prevent the yellow tarnish? In other words, is the yellow tarnish from polishing argentium with no germanium layer? Or is it inevitable that Argentium just turns yellow in 24 hours or some other short amount of time?
When I worked with Argentium in the past, for me I discovered it had to do with the environment. I live in an older home and I believe whatever is in the air is what caused it. I ended up taking pieces to my mom’s house, which is newer, and the process was very slow.
Argentium Sterling rarely tarnishes if it has been heat treated, in my experience. I have some hanging on the wall for years that still looks good!
Thanks!
Additional tarnish resistance can be gotten if you also use a product containing thiol, such as Goddards Long Shine Silver Cloth or Liquid polish (from hardware store, BB& Beyond, or Amazon), or Silver Glory (available from Rio Grande)
Cynthia Eid