Polishing oxidised jewellery

[Hayles Gerry]

HI,
Anyone out there with advice on how to polish oxidised jewellery to shine it and seal it?
Cheers
hayley

[Dennis]

HI,
Anyone out there with advice on how to polish oxidised jewellery to shine it and seal it?
Cheers
hayley

Unless It has porous stones, such as coral and turquoise, most tarnished jewllery can be revived by a thirty second dip in Goddard's Silver Dip from the supermarket. Once rinsed and dried it can be further polished up with a silver cloth.

Waxing with Renaissance Wax or a spray furniture polish will protect it to a degree, but for storage there is nothing better than anti-tarnish tabs in a closed box or bag. Find them on line.

There have been lots of debates about this which you can find by putting key words into our search box, top right. Dennis.

[mizgeorge]

Is this to polish jewellery that you've deliberately oxidised?

If so, I either use micromesh to rub back and get some nice highlights, and I happily tumble this type of piece for shine.

I don't generally seal silver jewellery, but if I wanted to, I'd use either protectaclear or GerMar.

[Dennis]

Ha, If I have misunderstood you Gerry, as George suggests and you want to finish blackened jewellery, then I would still wax it, because that gives depth to the colour and then I would polish it up with a soft cloth.

Should you want an antique effect then use an impregnated silver cloth first to bring up the highlights. Which answer were you after by the way? Dennis

[Hayles Gerry]

Hi,

Thanks for all your advice.

Do you tumble oxidised pieces? If so, do you need to change your water for the next tumble with non-oxidised pieces?

I am looking for a shiny, velvety texture.

Cheers

Hayley

[mizgeorge]

Hi Hayley,
I'm not quite sure how shiny and velvety go together as I would always consider the latter to be slightly matte, but yes, I happily tumble oxidised pieces.

I change my water every time I tumble. However, provided you have neutralised the oxidised piece before tumbling, it shouldn't have any effect on non-oxidised work.

[trialuser]

I'm still confused about what we are talking about here - that's not unusual.
Are we talking about further treatment of deliberately patinated pieces, or work that has undergone some oxidation as a result of heating, or just trying to rejuvenate naturally tarnished with age bits?
I've never tried but I assume tumbling something that has been blackened with los or whatever would remove the blackening - is that right?

[Hayles Gerry]

Hi Hayley,
I'm not quite sure how shiny and velvety go together as I would always consider the latter to be slightly matte, but yes, I happily tumble oxidised pieces.

I change my water every time I tumble. However, provided you have neutralised the oxidised piece before tumbling, it shouldn't have any effect on non-oxidised work.

Hi, your right, i am confusing my words. Glad to now you have happily tumbled oxidised work as I was worries the black effect may come off.

What do you do to neutralise the work?

Cheers

Haylely

[Hayles Gerry]

Hi, talking about deliberately oxidising work for the black effect.

[mizgeorge]

I'm still confused about what we are talking about here - that's not unusual.
Are we talking about further treatment of deliberately patinated pieces, or work that has undergone some oxidation as a result of heating, or just trying to rejuvenate naturally tarnished with age bits?
I've never tried but I assume tumbling something that has been blackened with los or whatever would remove the blackening - is that right?

Hi trialuser (sorry, don't know your real name!), we're talking here about something that's been deliberately patinated with LoS or (my preference) platinol. And no, tumbling does not remove the darkened effect, simply polishes it, which can help with highlighting. If any patina does flake away, it's not been properly created in the first place.


Hi, your right, i am confusing my words. Glad to now you have happily tumbled oxidised work as I was worries the black effect may come off.

What do you do to neutralise the work?

Haylely

I always neutralise anything that's been chemically treated as it can cause problems for people with allergies or intolerances. You can also find that even after rinsing, some compounds remain in the nooks and crannies and can carry on affecting the piece. I use a solution of bicarbonate of soda or soda crystals (cheaper) in warm water.

[trialuser]

Hi trialuser (sorry, don't know your real name!), we're talking here about something that's been deliberately patinated with LoS or (my preference) platinol. And no, tumbling does not remove the darkened effect, simply polishes it, which can help with highlighting. If any patina does flake away, it's not been properly created in the first place.

That's really useful to know thanks - I'd assumed it would be burnished off.
I have some blackened stuff in mind for christmas pressies.
Martyn.

[Dennis]

If any patina does flake away, it's not been properly created in the first place.

Now you've got me curious George, because I find flaking is a constant problem with patination of silver. I texture my silver to give it more of a key, degrease with plenty of detergent and rinse in cold water. Even so, for me applying Platinol neat results in some flaking, so much so that I dilute my Platinol with equal parts of purifyed water.

On a good day that deals with it, but sometimes a bare patch has to be touched up. So what's 'properly created' ? Regards Dennis.

[mizgeorge]

I dilute my platinol much more heavily Dennis - probably about 1:10 with lukewarm water, and build up the layers in anything up to 20 dips, rinsing in cold water in between. I only ever use it neat to 'paint' into deep recesses (for text for example), though I tend to use the sharpie trick for low-wear areas now. Seems to work for me, but these are generally quite small pieces, and I do polish back quite heavily as I don't generally want a very black finish.

[Dennis]

Thanks for that, George. There are no instructions to do that of course, and this is the first time anyone else has admitted to tinkering with the formula- something I thought I had invented for myself. Dennis.

[2753tony]

Hello everyone! has anyone tried using Jade oil as fixative for oxidization and tarnishing on silver? i googled and it seem quite effective, then i found this thread mentioning renaissance wax.. Did somebody tried both products? thanks
tony

[Dennis]

Hi Tony,

Once Silver has been blackened, anything which gives it a wet look will improve the appearance. So you can list water, oil, wax, or Arabian Oudh.
Some misguided souls even use lacquer.

The finish beloved of jewellers is Renaissance Wax. But all these things wear off the high spots with time. Dennis.

[Patstone]

I bought a pendant in Mexico before I started making my own jewellery and as it had got a bit yukky, I decided to put it in my tumbler to brighten it a bit, the purpose made oxidation came off, so I am left with a piece without any black on at all. Which incidentally I prefer.

[2753tony]

Thank you for the clarification Dennis! i was also bit naive expecting the patina would last forever..