[Jewelry making - Article 00943] - [Orchid] Silver metal clay turns brassy

[Christine Quiriy]

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    Silver metal clay turns brassy after immersion in jewelry cleaner?

    I got a gift from my mother-in-law, a small round "basket" bead on a
    silver chain. The set was tarnished so I dropped it in some
    commercial cleaner (Hannoush Jewelry Cleaner, largely ammonia), left
    it in 2 minutes per the instructions on the jar, and when I removed
    the items, the chain was sparkling but the bead had taken on an ugly
    brassy yellow color. Soaking it in hot citirc acid solution also
    didn't help. 

    I sent email to the gallery where it was purchased (in England),
    explaining what had happened and asking what the bead was made of so
    that I could clean it. I'm awaiting more information from the person
    who actually made the bead, but the gallery owners told me the bead
    had been made from a silver metal clay. Which doesn't help, since
    cleaning isn't different as far as I know. All I can wonder is
    perhaps the clay was incompletely fired? 

    In my determination to clean the darn thing, I put some boraxo on a
    toothbrush and scrubbed it, which took the brassy color off, but
    also marred the shine on the surface. Oops. I think the only solution
    to this now is to have it plated. 

    But I'm curious to hear opinions as to the reason for the brassy
    color. 

Thanks,
Christine in Littleton, Massachusetts

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