hydrogen peroxide/pickle trick question
I was just wondering if the hydrogen peroxide in the pickle maneuver for
'un-plating' silver (which has inadvertently been plated from touching iron while in the pickle) would have any positive effect/remove 'firestain'. Carl 1 Lucky Texan -- to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net) |
hydrogen peroxide/pickle trick question
On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:45:26 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Carl 1 Lucky Texan
wrote: I was just wondering if the hydrogen peroxide in the pickle maneuver for 'un-plating' silver (which has inadvertently been plated from touching iron while in the pickle) would have any positive effect/remove 'firestain'. Carl 1 Lucky Texan That mix IS a more aggressive pickle, no doubt, capable of dissolving copper itself, not just copper oxides as normal pickle does. But firestain isn't a surface oxide. It penetrates into the silver surface. So pickle, and the peroxide/pickle mix removes surface oxides, and apparent fire stain on the pickled surface, it doesn't penetrate and remove the oxides that have developed below the surface. At least not in my experience with the mix. You pretty much need something that will remove the fire stain layer itself, which means etching not just the copper oxide in the surface, but to get at it, the silver it's imbedded in. Thus the various versions of bright dips, which are usually acid mixes based on nitric acid or it's salts, rather than sulphuric acid (pickle), since the nitric acid based mixes can dissolve both the copper and it's oxides, AND the silver holding them too, letting you get the whole surface to below the affected layer. Buffing of course does the same thing. Peter. |
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