Silver tarnish and your ways of removing it

[Jerwei]

Hello,

My sterling silver pieces had light yellowish tint on them and these were the ways I tried to remove it.
1. Silver dip solution - Yellow tint remained, albeit with a shinier look. Not very helpful.

2. Silver polishing cloth - It did the job but couldn't reach hard-to-get areas. Items like twisted chains can't be cleaned and polished by the cloth properly.

3. Electrocleaning - To my surprise, it had little effect on the tarnish. Did see some improvements, but not good enough.

4. Flame heat the piece, then dipped in pickle solution - Tarnish completely gone, but left a white dull finish on the piece. Had to be polished in a tumbling machine.

5. Tumbling - No effect on the tarnish.


Would like to know your ways of removing silver tarnish and how would you have done it on multiple pieces at the same time. Thanks! :D


Side question: How would I know when to replace my electrocleaning solution? Mine has turned a bit milky and I wondered if it affects the cleaning performance. I'm using Earthcoat Electroking, fyi.

[Claire D]

I can't offer any advice but am hoping to find out the answer to this too! My mum has asked me to clean a heavily tarnished fine chain and I don't know what to do with it! Silver dip hasn't worked at all, a polishing cloth can't reach the inside areas as you say, and I'm reluctant to put it in my tumbler as it will tangle it up.

Watching this thread to see if anyone can help!

[mizgeorge]

I use the good aluminium and bicarb (or soda crystals) trick for this sort of thing.

Line a bowl with aluminium foil (or recycle a takeaway container). Place the thing to be cleaned in the bowl, making sure it's in good contact with the aluminium. Throw in some bicarbonate of soda (a couple of teaspoons to a takeaway container) and then add very hot water. Magic happens and all the tarnish is gone from the silver and onto the foil. Rinse the silver and it will look lovely again. Don't leave it in the solution too long though.

[FineJewelleryandArt]

Very good tip miz G. Thanks.

[Claire D]

I'm going to give this a try, right now because it sounds brilliant! Thank you!

[Goldsmith]

Further to what George said, I copied this info off an online USA article about cleaning jewellery. It may be useful to some.

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James

[theresa]

I have used washing soda crystals dissolved in hot water, on foil, to clean silver and it even works on Lapis with no damage!

[Claire D]

I tried it today and it worked a treat, I was quite amazed actually at how quickly it lifted the tarnish off. A happy mum can have her chain back!

[ajda]

I work almost entirely with Argentium silver - it's still not very well known or widespread, so this won't apply to many people, but if you do happen to come across it it's worth remembering that this method of cleaning is not good for it. Argentium has excellent anti-tarnish properties (and, incidentally, is completely firescale-free, which is great for the silversmith), resulting from the formation of a protective "passive" surface layer of germanium oxide (or dioxide?). Alkaline chemicals and electrolytic cleaning methods interfere with that, so even though the piece might look shiny and clean at first it will have lost this protective layer and will tarnish more quickly afterwards.

[Jerwei]

@mizgeorge: Thanks for the tip! I'm gonna give it a try too!

[10k]

I'm a friend of the Hagerty silver dip polish liquid. Recently I bought 3 bottles each approx. E 15 - it works really great and normally I use it for 1 or 2 years until it has to get replaces for new liquid. If you clean big parts use an old bowl and fill as much liquid as you need. But take care I always dip less than 30 seconds.

[Jerwei]

So I have tried cleaning in the baking soda solution. Below are the photos taken before, during and after the cleaning process.

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As you can see, it hasn't removed the tarnish completely. I added one and half teaspoon of baking soda, then very hot water. I even added in a drop of dish washing liquid plus a teaspoon of salt and let it sit for 10 minutes.

I'm gonna give it a second try...

[mizgeorge]

It needs to be bicarb, not baking soda (which has other ingredients) and I'd have probably used rather more than that.

They usually need a quick rub over with a silver cloth afterwards to make them really shiny.

[Dennis]

Dear Jerwei.

I'm sorry that you are having this trouble, but it points to the possibility that your tarnish has an unusual origin. I would recommend that in future you keep your stock in a closed drawer, box, or bag, with an anti tarnish tab or strip. They are available on line, but you might consider Town Talk Brand, as they are printed with an explanation, for the benefit of customers.

Back to the present: I have rarely had a problem with tarnish removal solutions such as Goddards silver dip, unless the solutiom was partly used up.

However if you are using the electrolytic method with aluminium and baking soda (or soda crystals which are cheaper), the cycle seems to go into reverse after about six minutes, so it is counter productive to go on for longer. Less is more.

For the moment, as you know, you might have to heat very gently and then pickle. regards, Dennis.

[Jerwei]

That's odd. I'm sure it's just light yellowish tarnish on them. I would heat and pickle but every item is price-tagged and to remove and put them back in order is time consuming. Not to mention that I can't tumble all of them at once in a tumbling machine without having them all entangled.

Back to my experiment. This is my fourth attempt. Used 4 tbsp Bicarbonate of Soda.
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It's gotten better but not good enough. This is some persistent tarnish!:mad:

By the way, isn't baking soda bicarbonate of soda? I read that Baking powder is the one with extra ingredients mixed in. This is the one I'm using.
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[Jerwei]

So, I gave into heating, pickling and tumbling.

This is the result.
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Not 100% tarnish free but this method has proved best for removing tarnish so far.

[Toadiebob]

Have a look on Pinterest there are a number of methods on there including the use of white vinegar alongside bicarbonate.

[mizgeorge]

If tumbling is an option, just do the bicarb thing (though using rather more than you did first time round) and then tumble. You should be able to get away without having to heat and pickle.

[10k]

Adding baking powder can cause damages, isn't it? I have heard especially the old silver should get cleaned that way? Is that right?

[gingercandyflossgirl]

hi, I make work with a lot of very fine texture, so items that are out and about for a while can get heavily tarnished, and can't be rubbed clean with a cloth; so I use bicarb and foil too. I use a small stainless steel pan, with about an inch of water in. i bring the heat up and add a small (about 4"sqare) bit of foil and add a teaspoon of kitchen bicarbonate of soda. As it comes to the boil it will suddenly really fizz, i drop the work in for about 3 seconds and then hook out with a stainless steel fork, and wash well. It is fab and fast and very very shiny!

[Dennis]

Yes, I think the main variation in your method is that you have the solution much hotter than most of us.

The fizzing is when the sodium bicarbonate breaks down into sodium carbonate (washing soda also known as soda crystals), and carbon dioxide gas. This is the gas you find in carbonated drinks.

The upshot is that for along time, I have used soda crystals, as you get more for your bucks. I would also caution about using this solution when there are stones which have been oiled or waxed, because this solution is ideal for degreasing, leaving the stones dull and whitish. The process is of course accelerated by heat.

Welcome to the forum, Dennis.