[Jewelry making - Article 00006] - Re: [Orchid] Cleaning amber pieces in an ionic cleaner

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>     I've searched the archives to no avail for the answer to this
>     question: is it safe to clean amber-and-silver jewelry in an ionic
>     jewelry cleaner? 

    Mac, the ionic cleaners' gentle application of voltage won't harm the
    amber on it's own, or contribute to it in any way. What WILL harm the
    amber is certain cleaning solutions you might use with the ionic
    cleaner. Strongly alkaline agents, especially ammonia, will quickly
    damage the amber, removing the polish. Ph neutral mild cleaners,
    such as liquid dish washing detergent (palmolive, etc), probably
    would be acceptable, but test it first on a small spot. The ionic
    cleaner itself plays no part in this as far as the amber is
    concerned. It's all about whether the cleaning solution itself will
    harm the amber. Of course, in the event you do find you've etched the
    polish off the amber with too strong a cleaning solution, amber is
    pretty easy to polish up again, so all wouldn't be lost. But it's a
    needless extra bit of work. 

Peter
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