[Jewelry making - Article 00206] - Re: [Orchid] Advising customer how to clean silver

[The Doctor]

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    Hi Grace. The easiest method I've found is the ol' "washing soda and
    aluminum foil" trick. I put off posting it since I thought somebody
    else would've by now, so here goes: 

    First, get a box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. This is a detergent
    booster (not a detergent, per se) and is not the same as baking
    soda. You'll find it in your grocery store with the cleaning
    products. Mine stores it right next to the dishwasher soap. 

    Dissolve a tablespoon or so to each cup of warm water (or as much as
    will dissolve). Then, place a piece of aluminum foil into a
    container large enough for the sterling silver item to fit inside.
    Put the tarnished item on the foil, making certain it touches the
    foil, and pour the washing soda solution into the container.
    Usually, you can see some "bubbling" action when the soda/foil
    combination attacks the tarnish. If the piece is heavily tarnished,
    it may take a few treatments, replacing the used solution with new.
    I've found that when the water turns gray, the action of the
    solution has been spent and it's time to replace it. Extreme tarnish
    may take many soakings before becoming tarnish-free. Some of the
    heavily tarnished pieces I've tried needed additional hand polishing
    with rouge cloth. 

    I'm not aware of any gemstone that can be harmed by this method, but
    anything is possible. Try it first before recommending to your
    customers. 

James in SoFl

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