[Jewelry making - Article 00745] - Re: [Orchid] Silver Dip

[Eileen Procter]

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Morning,

    tarnishing is a chemical reaction between the metal and either the
    sulphur or oxygen in the atmosphere.  The corrosion product will
    occupy a larger volume than the original metal surface.  When you use
    a silver dip to remove the corrosion product, you are removing some
    metal but not an even layer over the surface of the metal.  

    Silver dips usually consist of an acid, an inhibitor (this stops the
    acid from attacking your polished surface) and water.  When they
    remove the tarnish the metal ions involved in the corrosion product
    are also removed.  This results in microscopic pitting and therefore
    a loss of the polished surface at the corrosion site.  Due to the
    inhibitor contained in the dip, the rest of the non-tarnished surface
    should be unaffected.  The dip itself will not polish the surface of
    the metal. 

    To reverse the corrosion process, you need an electron source
    (sacraficial metal) and a power source (battery). 

I hope this helps
Eileen  Procter

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