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#1
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Need safe tarnish remover
I make a lot of jewelry with sterling silver and pearls, turquoise, and soft stones. When not being displayed for purchase, I usually keep my jewelry in zip-loc bags which helps to keep the tarnishing at a minimum. Over time, these jewelry pieces do become tarnished and I have to clean them - but what a pain in the ass trying to use a jewelry cloth!!! I realize that I cant just dip that jewelry in Tarnex because the Tarnex would destroy the pearls and porous stones, but I've read where you can make a tarnish remover from Baking Soda, Salt, Aluminum Foil, and water in a glass dish. Would this concoction harm pearls and/or soft stones? Short of busting apart the jewelry to clean the silver, what can I use/do to clean tarnish from silver that is nestled between porous stones or pearls and is very hard to clean? Sterling |
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#2
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Need safe tarnish remover
On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:40:14 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Sterling"
wrote: I make a lot of jewelry with sterling silver and pearls, turquoise, and soft stones. When not being displayed for purchase, I usually keep my jewelry in zip-loc bags which helps to keep the tarnishing at a minimum. Over time, these jewelry pieces do become tarnished and I have to clean them - but what a pain in the ass trying to use a jewelry cloth!!! From many jewelry supply companies, such as Rio Grande and others, you can buy a 3M product, a black paper that is treated with tarnish retardants. Small pieces of the stuff placed with the jewelry in those zip lock bags will prevent the formation of that tarnish. I realize that I cant just dip that jewelry in Tarnex because the Tarnex would destroy the pearls and porous stones, but I've read where you can make a tarnish remover from Baking Soda, Salt, Aluminum Foil, and water in a glass dish. Would this concoction harm pearls and/or soft stones? No, it's safe for stones. Works best with "washing soda", rather than baking soda (sodium carbonate instead of sodium bicarbonate). No salt needed. Make a warm solution of either chemical in water, place the aluminum foil (or use a plain unanodized aluminum pan instead) in the bottom of the glass or plastic container, and put the silver on top, in the solution and in contact with the aluminum. It sets up an electrolytic reaction that reduces the silver sulphides (tarnish) back to silver. If the tarnish is more than slight, though, the result won't be bright metallic, only white in color again. (Tarnex has this same limitation) So more severely tarnished pieces may still need some buffing to restore the finish, and doing that also helps retard future tarnishing again. Depending on the degree of tarnish, this can be a somewhat slow process, so be patient. It's not instant the way Tarnex is. Sometimes takes up to a couple hours, and sometimes you may need to reheat the solution during the process. Short of busting apart the jewelry to clean the silver, what can I use/do to clean tarnish from silver that is nestled between porous stones or pearls and is very hard to clean? You may also wish to re-examine the design choices involved in making things needing silver to stay bright in areas neither you, nor the end owner, can reach to clean. In essence you're asking the metal to behave in a way that is not in it's nature. This is one big reason why much silver jewelry traditionally is made with an oxidized (tarnish by a nicer name) finish in recessed areas. Done intentionally, you can put an attractive shiny, blue/black finish in those recessed areas that then will remain essentially permanent. Oxidize with a liver of sulphur solution, then burnish with a brass platers brush. Or skip the burnishing for a duller black finish. Jewelry made like this doesn't need constant aggrevating cleaning. The high spots stay bright from normal wear and friction with clothes, etc, while the carefully oxidized recessed areas also stay the way they were made. HTH Peter |
#3
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Need safe tarnish remover
From many jewelry supply companies, such as Rio Grande and others, you can buy a
3M product, a black paper that is treated with tarnish retardants. *Small pieces of the stuff placed with the jewelry in those zip lock bags will prevent the formation of that tarnish. * Just curious: Is there any knowledge of using oxygen displacement for long term storage? vacuum, dry ice, nitrogen... |
#4
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Need safe tarnish remover
On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:28:15 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry gruhn
wrote: From many jewelry supply companies, such as Rio Grande and others, you can buy a 3M product, a black paper that is treated with tarnish retardants. *Small pieces of the stuff placed with the jewelry in those zip lock bags will prevent the formation of that tarnish. * Just curious: Is there any knowledge of using oxygen displacement for long term storage? vacuum, dry ice, nitrogen... Not that I know of, at least not in commercial practice. Atmospheric / environmental controls of various sorts might be more common in places like museum collections or something, especially with fragile or vulnerable antiques... But for normal silver jewelry, such as the OP asked about, oxygen isn't really the problem. Tarnish on silver alloys isn't oxides. It's sulphides. Keeping out oxygen isn't really needed. Peter |
#5
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Need safe tarnish remover
No, it's safe for stones. Works best with "washing soda", rather than baking
soda (sodium carbonate instead of sodium bicarbonate). No salt needed. Make a warm solution of either chemical in water, place the aluminum foil (or use a plain unanodized aluminum pan instead) in the bottom of the glass or plastic container, and put the silver on top, in the solution and in contact with the aluminum. It sets up an electrolytic reaction that reduces the silver sulphides (tarnish) back to silver. If the tarnish is more than slight, though, the result won't be bright metallic, only white in color again. (Tarnex has this same limitation) So more severely tarnished pieces may still need some buffing to restore the finish, and doing that also helps retard future tarnishing again. Depending on the degree of tarnish, this can be a somewhat slow process, so be patient. It's not instant the way Tarnex is. Sometimes takes up to a couple hours, and sometimes you may need to reheat the solution during the process. Thanks Peter, for the info. I've googled this cleaning process for silver and have read where some believe it wont harm the softer stones, and others believe it does so I came here for the definitive answer. I just wanted to be able to offer my customers a way to clean the silver in their jewelry without harming the other components or stones. |
#6
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Need safe tarnish remover
the problem. *Tarnish on silver alloys isn't oxides. *It's sulphides. * Keeping
out oxygen isn't really needed. * Doh yeah. I was supposed to know that. Thanks. |
#7
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Need safe tarnish remover
On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:20:45 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Sterling"
wrote: Thanks Peter, for the info. I've googled this cleaning process for silver and have read where some believe it wont harm the softer stones, and others believe it does so I came here for the definitive answer. I just wanted to be able to offer my customers a way to clean the silver in their jewelry without harming the other components or stones. Safely cleaning jewelry: For the most part, most jewelry can be safely cleaned. Professionals usually use either or both, a steam cleaner and/or an ultrasonic cleaner. These have the advantage of being very fast, and very thorough. Both, however, have limits and pitfalls. Steam cleaners can subject more brittle stones to heat shock, which can fracture or break some of the more fragile ones. Some opals, amber, some peridot, or other highly heat sensative stones might be at risk. Usually this can be done anyway, by holding the item well below the steam jet, raising it up as needed, to make the temperature change gradual. The main danger with steam cleaners is simply blowing out stones that aren't tight and secure. Marcasites, tiny seed pearls, other glued on rhinestones or pearls, or almost any small loose stones, including diamonds, can be at risk here. Common sense tells you whether to use such a method. Ultrasonics, while fast, are also sometimes actually quite aggressive. Softer metals, including cast silver, can have their polish actually damaged, and a few softer stones can be as well, though it's not so common that it's the ultrasonic itself that damages stones. Usually it's too aggressive a cleaning solution, especially those with ammonia, which can harm a few stones (notably amber), or stones which have been coated or waxed. Like steam cleaners, ultrasonic cleaners are wonderfully effective at finding ways to remove any stone that isn't securely set. At least with the ultrasonic, if a stone falls out, you've got a decent chance of finding it simply by cleaning out the tank. Steamers tend to blow tiny stones around the room when they unset a small stone... In both cases, properly set stones aren't loosened or removed. The main dangers in cleaning stones is simply that some cleaning solutions can damage some stones. The big danger, for example, with tarnex, the silver tarnish remover, is that it's acidic. That can damage pearns, or carbonate gems like coral, mexican onyx, malachite, lapis, and a few others. It's not a function of the hardness of the gems, but rather whether they are affected by acids. Similarly, a few stones can be affected by harsher alkaline cleaning agents. The two main ones are amber, which as an organic resin, is actually attacked by ammonia or strong alkali cleaners, (so can be jet, a form of coal not commonly seen these days), and turqoise, which because it's porous (in lower quality but genuine versions, as opposed to the plastic filled treated material that's actually pretty safe to clean), can absorbe soaps, cleaners, and other chemicals. These can change the color over time, generally from blue to greenish. Some lower quality coral can also sometimes be attacked by strong alkali cleaners, though it may be that wax coatings are what are actually being attacked. Jewelry using wood as a decorative element also has to be cleaned with care, for similar reasons. While many jewelry cleaners say not to use them on pearls, in truth, it's not actually the pearls that are endangerd by stronger cleaners, but rather the cords they are strung on. The pearls themselves are sensative to anything acid, but soaps, detergents, and alkaline cleaners used appropriately won't hurt the pearls themselves. But traditionally, pearls are strung on silk, and the cleaning solutions soak into the strand inside the drill hole, and aren't rinsed, so they can rot the silk strand over time. But pearls glued to posts on gold or silver jewelry don't have this problem, and are generally safe to clean in non-acid cleaners. For those stones, like turqoise, that need gentle cleaning, the trick is simply to make sure your cleaning solution is itself not full of dirt already, and is simply a gentle detergent, like dish washing detergent. Rinse clean after cleaning, and things are fine. Same with the other more fragile stones. The washing soda or baking soda method of cleaning tarnish from silver is even gentler than any normal detergent. You're not going to be damaging much of anything with baking or washing soda solution... Things glued, especially with epoxy might be an exception if left to soak for very long times, since some epoxies and glues are not water resistant. The soda has no effect, but the water itself can degrade some glues. But we'd be talking much longer times than what would be used to clean tarnish from silver. For general cleaning of jewelry that has more durable stones, if you don't have the pro equipment, the easiest is to mix up a solution of hot water with a good strong household cleaner (Mr. Clean, Simple Green, Top Job, etc). Even better if it has some ammonia in it. About the same strength you might use to clean the kitchen floor is about right. put it in a saucepan on the stove to simmer, and hang the gold or platinum jewelry in it on hooks over the side of the pan, which you can make from paper clips bent open. Allow to simmer in there for five or ten minutes, which loosens the gunk behind diamonds or other gems, allowing it to simply rinse clean. Or fill a jar with the same solution, only don't bother to heat, and soak over night. Rinse in the morning. After cleaning, always use a pin or sharp tweezers or some sort of point to gently check that stones are still tight and don't rock or jiggle when gently probed. How NOT to clean jewelry.... Toothpaste is abrasive. Don't use it on soft stones or polished metal. It WILL put a low matte semi bright sheen on silver that's already worn, but be careful not to use it on still polished metal, especially in areas that you can't polish again if you wished to, such as those nice prepolished areas inside prong settings on gold or platinum jewelry that were polished before the stones were set. Those areas get dirty, but don't loose their polish. No toothpaste. The soft toothbrush is OK, though. If using a hot or simmering cleaning solution, don't go straight from that hot condition to a cold water rinse. Some stones can be cracked that way. Likewise, for more fragile stones, don't go straight from cold into a boiling hot solution... No bleach. Not ever. It damages some stones, and makes of mess of silver (unless you WANTED a sort of junky grey dull yucky surface...), and attacks some gold alloys, especially white golds. Ammonia is safe in most jewelry cleaning tasks. Bleach is not. And NEVER mix the two (generates toxic chlorine gas) Peter |
#8
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Need safe tarnish remover
On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:53:57 -0700, "Peter W.. Rowe,"
wrote: I realize that I cant just dip that jewelry in Tarnex because the Tarnex would destroy the pearls and porous stones, but I've read where you can make a tarnish remover from Baking Soda, Salt, Aluminum Foil, and water in a glass dish. Would this concoction harm pearls and/or soft stones? No, it's safe for stones. Works best with "washing soda", rather than baking soda (sodium carbonate instead of sodium bicarbonate). No salt needed. Make a warm solution of either chemical in water, place the aluminum foil (or use a plain unanodized aluminum pan instead) in the bottom of the glass or plastic container, and put the silver on top, in the solution and in contact with the aluminum. It sets up an electrolytic reaction that reduces the silver sulphides (tarnish) back to silver. Hi, Peter Is this essentially the same thing that the ionic cleaners do? -- Al Balmer Sun City, AZ |
#9
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Need safe tarnish remover
On Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:05:50 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Al Balmer
wrote: No, it's safe for stones. Works best with "washing soda", rather than baking soda (sodium carbonate instead of sodium bicarbonate). No salt needed. Make a warm solution of either chemical in water, place the aluminum foil (or use a plain unanodized aluminum pan instead) in the bottom of the glass or plastic container, and put the silver on top, in the solution and in contact with the aluminum. It sets up an electrolytic reaction that reduces the silver sulphides (tarnish) back to silver. Hi, Peter Is this essentially the same thing that the ionic cleaners do? -- Al Balmer Sun City, AZ Frankly, I'm not sure, since I don't have experience with the ionic cleaners. They might be simply a light electrocleaning setup. If using them, with an ordinary detergent or similar cleaning solution, is able to remove tarnish from silver, then I'd guess the same sort of reduction reaction would be taking place. But as I said, I don't really know. Peter |
#10
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Need safe tarnish remover
In article , "Peter W.. Rowe,"
wrote: Ammonia is safe in most jewelry cleaning tasks. Bleach is not. And NEVER mix the two (generates toxic chlorine gas) Thanks for an interesting treatise on cleaaning jewellery, Peter! Could do worse. If the bleach were in excess, nitrgen trichloride might be formed, which is a dangerous, unpredictable violently explosive yellow oil. G.H.Ireland -- _ _________________________________________ / \._._ |_ _ _ /' Orpheus Internet Services \_/| |_)| |(/_|_|_ / 'Internet for Everyone' _______ | ___________./ http://www.orpheusinternet.co.uk |
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