[Jewelry making - Article 00944] - Re: [Orchid] Cleaning silver and freshwater pearls

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>        Is this safe for everything? Is the sodium carbonate safe for
>     everything? 

    Pretty much.  there may be exceptions, but right off hand, I can't
    think of any that are common in jewelry.   You might want to think
    twice before immersing something with silk or nylon strung pearls, 
    since the silk/nylon will absorb the solution, which might make it
    degrade faster, over time.  But I'm not even sure of that.  And since
    the speed brite is only intended to clean conductive metal items,
    it's unlikely you'll need to get pearl cord (or other stringing
    cords) in the speed brite anyway.  Unlike ultrasonics, speed brites
    only work with things that can be part of an electrical circuit, just
    as with electroplating.  

    Sodium carbonate is pretty benign stuff.  It's used mostly as an
    electrolyte here,  with it's mild basic ph providing some wetting
    agent/detergent properties to improve the conductivity.  I can think
    of no actual metal that it would harm, and frankly, the only gem I
    can think of that I'd want to check, would be amber, which can be
    sensative to some strong bases.  But it would surprise me if it
    actually has any effect on it. 

Peter


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