Hello, I am looking into using Rio Grande’s Silvery Glory Anti Tarnish dip for my Sterling Silver castings. I will be cleaning them in Citric Acid and then using the dip as my final step.
Has anyone had any experience with this product? Is it safe? Does it wear off easily? It will be applied to Bracelets.
Also, any thoughts on Citric Acid as a pickle? I want to avoid the nasty stuff. I heard good things but am curious what people have to say. Appreciate it.
Can’t comment on the anti-tarnish dip but I use citric acid as my pickle. Works great! It’s still nasty stuff because it become saturated with copper. It can’t go down the drain (like all pickles). Yes, I know some say dilute it with water after neutralizing it with baking soda and then dispose but the majority of municipal waste water treatment plants don’t have the technologies or the money to remove heavy metals. Most of it gets disposed into the local water stream. Here’s a great article on how to dispose of it https://shoeboxstudio.com/2016/03/02/be-kind-to-fish-dispose-of-all-spent-pickle-responsibly/
I see, ok thanks. What’s your ratio of Citric Acid to water?
I am new to this. I am creating Sterling Silver Bracelets. I want to give my Bracelets to my customer as “fresh” as possible so Tarnish takes longer to set in. Is the normal process to clean the castings and then once finished cleaning, to then pickle as a final step? There will be no soldering. Just simple hand sanding with Aluminum Oxide sand paper. Thanks.
Also, were do you buy your Citric Acid from? I was planning on buying the following from Target…
I’m not sure about the casting part, hopefully someone else here with more experience will chime in or you can search the archives.
I have a small crock pot, 2-qt and I use 1/4 citric acid. The canning citric acid I think has additional ingredients, might want to double check the label. If you have a bulk food store (whole foods, health food store, places like that) that sell spices and such, they usually have citric acid. Amazon (of course) is another source.
I see, ok thanks. How long do you usually leave your pieces in the Pickle?
When it’s hot it works quite quickly, maybe 5-7 minutes. But I work on multiple pieces at a time so I usually dig them all out after about 20 minutes.
Ok great. Thanks for the help.
I have been using citric acid for many years now. When it gets really old, I let it sit in my pickle pot until most of the water has evaporated (4 or 5 hours) and then I add clay cat litter to soak up the rest of the water. I pour that into a plastic pan and let sit out for a week or so until it is dry, then bag it up for disposal at my waste facility. I collect the litter and go about one time a year.
It keeps the copper out of the water and I do not have to worry about spills.
Hi there, I bought a 50 lb bag of food grade citric acid off of Amazon, much cheaper than buying the small amounts in a grocery store.