posted on December 11, 2003 08:32:25 PM new
Hi, all! I've seen demonstrations on TV by some handyman showing how we can clean silver jewelry and other silver items by dipping them for a few seconds in water with baking soda and aluminum foil.
What I remember is "some" baking soda (how much?), hot water (how hot?), a sheet of aluminum foil, all in a sort of flat pan. Anyone know details on this? I tried it in a bowl tonight and results weren't uniform.
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"In order to avoid poverty, just do three things: finish high school, marry before having a child, and don't have that child until you're at least 20 years old. Only 8% of people who do all three of these things wind up poor, but a staggering 79% of those who fail to do them wind up in poverty." ~William Galston
posted on December 12, 2003 03:45:52 AM new
I have used this cocktail to clean silver and plated items.
Not baking soda, but 'washing soda' crystals,
(I guess they are different).
Best with hot water.
I have used 'any' amount;
couldn't tell you hou much to use.
What i can tell you though, is that this can rip silver off of some plated metals, particularly EPBM.
posted on December 12, 2003 08:09:35 AM new
What this is doing is setting up a battery with the aluminum and the silver the electrodes. I wouold be real cautious about leaving it to 'soak' you might get pitting or a break through to base metal.
If you do this you should also do it in a non-metallic vessal so the container does not enter into the reaction also. It might stain or etch the pan too.
Just about any conductive salt that will desolve in water should work.
The navy used to make torpeado and emergency batteries of silver and some other metal - I forget what. when it was put in the water the salty sea water was the electrolyte so it would be 'activated'. Since silver chloride is pretty much insoluble I imagine it got gunked up with that and stopped working pretty fast.
posted on December 12, 2003 09:48:15 AM new
Thanks, everybody. Non-metal pan, right? And hot water, not lukewarm?
I think the washing soda you refer to is borax?
This man on Public TV (is it Haley's Hints?) shows a pan of water and baking soda, takes a very tarnished sugar bowl, for example, dips half in the water for no more than 3 or 4 seconds, and that half comes out silvery and pretty. He doesn't advocate soaking things in it, either. I have sterling silver jewelry that gets tarnished, and I just thought I'd like to get those things shiny again without all the fuss of liquid polishes.
___________________________________
"In order to avoid poverty, just do three things: finish high school, marry before having a child, and don't have that child until you're at least 20 years old. Only 8% of people who do all three of these things wind up poor, but a staggering 79% of those who fail to do them wind up in poverty." ~William Galston
posted on December 12, 2003 06:16:53 PM new
YIKES. I just noticed how I spelled "baking soda" in the subject line! I do truly know better! Brain fart or something.
Gravid: I promise to post here how this solution does for my silver. I did try it last night--but the water wasn't very hot--and it seemed to do well with a couple of silver bracelets. I'll work on this on the weekend.
___________________________________
"In order to avoid poverty, just do three things: finish high school, marry before having a child, and don't have that child until you're at least 20 years old. Only 8% of people who do all three of these things wind up poor, but a staggering 79% of those who fail to do them wind up in poverty." ~William Galston
