Pickled to death

[caroleallen]

Help please! I accidentally left a load of chains in the pickle pot and now they're all black. I tumbled them all night in the hope that they would clean up but they're still black. I've now reheated them with the torch and they're back in the pickle. It was interesting when I heated them that the flame was a very pretty bright green. Will they go back to normal or will I have to clean them all individually with a brush? I'm hoping I won't have to do that as I'm running very short of time now.

[Di Sandland]

I have done similar, Carole, and I'm afraid it might be a brush job. The bright green must be the copper eh?

[caroleallen]

Well, they came out of the pickle slightly less black - more dirty grey really. I had another go at heating them - more pretty green flames (I think you're right about the copper Di). They now look reasonably white and are in the tumbler again. Fingers crossed that they'll be OK! I'll let you know.

How I wish I'd paid attention in those chemistry lessons. At the time I never thought it would ever be relevant to me!

[Boo]

I was just going to say the same, the flame turns bright green with copper. The thin layer of copper on the surface, after pickling, would usually be pink.

Were they solid Sterling - I had some silver plated chain that I was experimenting with to destruction and that went black in pickle?

[Di Sandland]

How I wish I'd paid attention in those chemistry lessons. At the time I never thought it would ever be relevant to me!

I can actually remember saying as much to our chemistry teacher. I went to an all girls grammar and he was the only male on the premises, apart from the groundsman (another story ).

Mr Brown, the chem teacher, yelled at me one day when I wasn't paying attention and I actually asked him what use his lessons would be to me when I was buying the Sunday joint of meat.

It was the 1960's and liberation hadn't hit Dunstable yet

[Solunar Silver Studio]

...just wondering Carole....have you changed the pickle for a fresh batch this morning? There must be a fair amount of copper floating around in there if it can achieve that result overnight.....

[caroleallen]

There are signs that the patients may be reviving. News of their death may have been exaggerated. They're not sparkly yet, but I think if I give them a bit more tlc they may be nursed back to good health.

[caroleallen]

Yes, you're right about changing the pickle - good point.

[bustagasket]

I had a similar problem with the sections of chain in my onyx and mirror ball set, what seems like a life time ago, and i didnt know about reheating it then and i desperately tried polishing it. It came up a reasonable colour until you put it against the other pieces, and then you can see it is darker. It is at the clasp and so would thankfully be hidden under the hair line but it still bothers me greatly cos i know its there.

My inexperienced showing greatly i gather. Hope yours respond to their CPR hun

[Boo]

If my pickle has enough copper in it to actually plate silver, it is visibly that copper sulphate blue - I suppose in an opaque pickle vessel you might not notice it, but in a clear glass bowl it's very obvious.

I always use new pickle when I'm about to start working on silver and keep the older stuff for copper.