[Jewelry making - Article 01413] - Re: [Orchid] Resurrecting old pearls

[BeadStorm]

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Helen

>     I'm not sure how to clean glass faux pearls where the coating is
>     very poor and non-existent in some places, obviously without
>     causing any more damage to what coating remains. I've not strung
>     pearls before but I have seen instructions on many sites on the
>     internet so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'll need to
>     buy some silk to string them and probably a bead board so I can
>     graduate them without them rolling all over the place! Am I right
>     in thinking that the silk has to be pre-stretched? 

    Wash your pearls in a gentle soap with warm water. I'm not sure
    what's available in England, here in the US I would use something
    like Ivory Ultra or a similar soap. You can gently brush soiled areas
    with a soft toothbrush (a child's toothbrush is ideal). Since these
    are faux pearls, they will have larger stringing holes than true
    pearls, so use a #5 or #6 silk for your restringing. And yes, you
    should pre-stretch your silk. You can either stretch it with your
    hands before you begin working (rather hard on your hands) or you can
    take the easy way out and do what I do. I take the length of silk
    (usually 2 metres) and tie a coffee cup to each end. I then hang the
    thread over the top of a door for at least 24 hours. When I remove
    the thread to use it, I try and use it within 2 hours of removing the
    weight to keep that stretch in the silk. Good luck with the pearls -
    I'm sure they will be treasured when you return them to the owner.

BBR - Sandi Graves
Stormcloud Trading Co (Beadstorm)
Saint Paul, Minnesota
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