Keeping tarnish at bay

All this talk about soldering and the like - got me thinking about silver
tarnish. Specifically, I was wondering why a piece of silver jewelry bought
from a store does not tarnish as much or as fast as what I am able to
purchase online to make my own jewelry? For example - a few years ago at
Christmas, I received a pearl bracelet with a sterling silver toggle clasp.
I haven't cleaned this piece of jewelry other than getting it wet while
washing my hands, but the silver is just as bright and tarnish free as the
day I got it. The same can not be said for the jewelry I make myself from
silver components that I buy online (jumprings, eyepins, silver wire, etc)
These need to be kept tightly closed away from the air and with an
anti-tarnish strip or they will turn almost overnight. Are these jewelry
store pieces sealed with something? If so, then what exactly is this
sealant and where can I get it?

I also have a sterling pendant that was looking a bit drab, so I used some
Tarnex on it and it brightened up perfectly, but now I noticed that the
pendant tarnishes 100x faster than it ever did. This all leads me to
believe that it was sealed with something and using the Tarnex removed the
sealant. I'd like to be able to purchase this sealant if possible.
Thots??

ST

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 13:20:59 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Snaggeltooth"
wrote:

All this talk about soldering and the like - got me thinking about silver
tarnish. Specifically, I was wondering why a piece of silver jewelry bought
from a store does not tarnish as much or as fast as what I am able to
purchase online to make my own jewelry? For example - a few years agoat
Christmas, I received a pearl bracelet with a sterling silver toggle clasp.
I haven't cleaned this piece of jewelry other than getting it wet while
washing my hands, but the silver is just as bright and tarnish free as the
day I got it. The same can not be said for the jewelry I make myself from
silver components that I buy online (jumprings, eyepins, silver wire, etc)
These need to be kept tightly closed away from the air and with an
anti-tarnish strip or they will turn almost overnight. Are these jewelry
store pieces sealed with something? If so, then what exactly is this
sealant and where can I get it?

I also have a sterling pendant that was looking a bit drab, so I used some
Tarnex on it and it brightened up perfectly, but now I noticed that the
pendant tarnishes 100x faster than it ever did. This all leads me to
believe that it was sealed with something and using the Tarnex removed the
sealant. I'd like to be able to purchase this sealant if possible.
Thots??

ST



Commercially sold sterling silver may resist tarnish of two main reasons.One
common one is that a lot of commercial sterling silver, especially chains, but
also other items, are rhodium plated. The surface you see is rhodium, one of
the platinum group metals, not actually silver. It's distinguishable easily
since it's color, while nice and white, is a darker tone, more like chrome, than
the very white light color of silver.

The other reason is that, as you can imagine, jewelers have been plagued by
their nice bright silver merchandise getting tarnished in the showcases for as
long as they've been selling silver. So they look for solutions. Rhodium
plating is one that's been used for quite a while now. But in recent decades,
new versions of sterling silver alloys have been developed that resist tarnish.
The traditional sterling silver is 92.5 percent silver, and the balance copper.
These new alloys substitute some or all of the copper with other metals or mixes
of metals that then cause the finished item to resist tarnishing. There are
several such alloys from different refiners. Some are mostly used for casting,
others can work well with fabrication. Argentum is the name of one such that's
gained a good deal of popularity with silversmiths recently. Costs more that
standard sterling, but it not only resists tarnishing, it also resists the
formation of fire scale and fire stain when soldering, a great time saverfor
the silversmith.

Tarnex, unlike mechanical silver polishes and pastes, is a chemical remover that
reduces silver sulphides back to silver. It's slightly acid. In use, it
whitens the sulphides (tarnish), but the result is a surface that is not quite
as smooth and polished as before, though it may not always be visibly different.
the slightly "etched" or rough surface it will leave is then more chemically
reactive than the original one. Plus, the treatment leaves the silver surface
very clean, chemically clean, not just visually clean. So then it's evenmore
available to atmospheric sulphur compounds that cause it to tarnish again.

You can "fix" this by following the tarnex treatment with a more traditional
silver polish or rouge cloth buffing. This smoothes the surface again, and
almost all such polishing agents leave trace residues of their binders, wax or
grease based, imbedded in the soft silver surface. The paste or cream type
silver polishes include actual tarnish inhibitors that also end up coating the
surface. The normal degree of modest resistance to tarnishing that new silver
has, is a combination of the fact that the original polishing operations burnish
and smooth the silver surface very well, sealing pores and the like, andthe
fact that the same polishing operations tend to leave a slight surface film.
Tarnex removes both those aspects, so if you follow tarnex treatment with
another silver cleaner or polish that will restore that original condition,
you'll be back to the original speed of tarnishing.

most silver is not actually coated with a sealant, since few such potential
sealants will really work all that long, or if they do, they become too visible
as a coating. There are sealants sold to prevent tarnishing during processing,
mostly so that people doing electroplating operations don't have to worryabout
a delay in processing between stages, or so that merchandise in a case doesn't
tarnish so fast. But these coatings are fragile and easily rubbed off. Simpler,
for the end user, are things like a bit of wax. Products like "renaissance wax"
will do a fair job of sealing a metal surface to retard corrosion or tarnishing.
It's not totally permanent, but it can help. You WILL see the coating,
slightly. But usually it's not too obvious. Note that this type of product is
more commonly used to protect a patina type finish on metal, than a bright
polished surface. But it will work with either. Renaissance wax is perhaps the
best of these products. You can also, if you wish, use the even more visible
actual lacquers. Available as dips or sprays, these are really transparent
paints, and they DO seal the surfaces well. But you can see the fact that the
metal is coated, and over time, the coatings can turn yellowish. Removal
requires solvents. Lacquers are most commonly used with brass and bronzeand
the like, but you can use it on silver if you like.

Peter Rowe

Peter,

Thanks for the information. This tarnish issue has been bugging me ever
since I used Tarnex and experimented on several other silver pieces to see
how fast they would tarnish. Now, with the information you've supplied, I
will be able to prolong the brightness of all my silver pieces.

ST

On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:19:26 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Snaggeltooth"
wrote:

Peter,

Thanks for the information. This tarnish issue has been bugging me ever
since I used Tarnex and experimented on several other silver pieces to see
how fast they would tarnish. Now, with the information you've supplied, I
will be able to prolong the brightness of all my silver pieces.

ST


By the way, Tarnex is not a unique culpret here. Any purely chemical means of
reducing the sulphides back to silver will do the same. The home brew method of
washing soda in solution with the silver in contact with aluminum will also tend
to do that, again because the surface roughness and reactivity is increased by
the process, as compared to methods that buff or otherwise smooth and burnish
the surface. If you use a polishing cloth or other polishing method after the
tarnex, you can get the best of both worlds. The tarnex is easier to get
through the tarnish with, and then you follow with less energy needed with the
mechanical polishing.

Also, for preventing tarnish in work that is being stored or displayed inany
sort of closed environment, a showcase, a box, a zip lock back, etc, you should
know about the 3M tarnish inhibiting paper. Available as full sheets (I think),
or strips or little tabs. Just a little bit of this black unassuming paper
included in the enclosure with reduce or prevent the tarnishing. Mainly works
in closed spaces, of course, but even just for the jewelry box when one is not
wearing a piece, this stuff works fine.

By the way, if you like Tarnex or use it much, know that they are not theprime
manufacturer (or at least, didn't used to be. not sure about now). The root
chemical is a product called CQ-3, if I recall. I'm drawing a mental blank on
the manufacturer, and am right now too lazy to run downstairs to look (ask if
you want the info). About fifteen years ago, the last time I bought it, a pound
of the dry granular chemical cost about ten bucks. That's enough to mix up
several gallons of a full strength solution. That's significant because what
Tarnex company sells is much more dilute. Their product gets exhaused quickly.
Properly mixed CQ-3 lasts a long time, and it works a whole LOT faster. When I
was in school, we had a container of the mix under the sink in the studio, for
use when students would decide they didn't like the finish they'd just achieved
with liver of sulphur, and wanted to take off that deep black sulphide. Fresh
new Tarnex might have done it if given enough time, but the mix in that
container did it in seconds. And the dry granular chemical has unlimitedshelf
life, unlike the mixed solution, which eventually seems to degrade... Let me
know if you'd like the info on the manufacturer. It's a company in Cleveland
Ohio, if I recall. No web site the last I checked, about a year ago... But
Telephones still work...

cheers

Peter

Since you mentioned the rhodium plating in your other post, I do believe
that the pearl bracelet has been plated... Its appearance and color are more
in line with a "white gold" ring than anything silver that I now have.

here is an off post topic question for you.... If using rhodium for plating
is so common, then why not just make the entire piece out of rhodium?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that it's used over gold to give
it the "white gold" appearance. In terms of value, I know that Platinum is
a far better and more expensive choice, but why couldn't 100% rhodium be
used instead?

I purchased those tarnish inhibiting papers from Fire Mountain a year or so
ago, and they're doing exactly as intended. The dry granular chemical is
very intriguing though. What liquid agent is used to create the
solution...Water? In your professional opinion, what is the best polishing
compound to use on silver after a bath in Tarnex?
I was thinking that using Tarnex (or other like chemical), then a polishing
compound, then waxing with something like the renaissance wax that you
mentioned would be a fairly time consuming endeavor, but would postpone
tarnishing for quite a long time. I don't think I'd like to do this for all
my silver, but perhaps this would be a good procedure to follow for those
show pieces that would be displayed for awhile. If you don't mind, I would
like to know a bit more about the dry granular chemical - where to get it,
etc.

thanks,

ST


Also, for preventing tarnish in work that is being stored or displayed in
any sort of closed environment, a showcase, a box, a zip lock back, etc, you
should know about the 3M tarnish inhibiting paper. Available as full sheets (I
think), or strips or little tabs. Just a little bit of this black unassuming paper
included in the enclosure with reduce or prevent the tarnishing.



By the way, if you like Tarnex or use it much, know that they are not the
prime manufacturer (or at least, didn't used to be. not sure about now). The
root chemical is a product called CQ-3, if I recall. I'm drawing a mental blank
on the manufacturer, and am right now too lazy to run downstairs to look (ask
if you want the info). About fifteen years ago, the last time I boughtit, a
pound of the dry granular chemical cost about ten bucks. That's enoughto mix
up several gallons of a full strength solution. That's significant because
what Tarnex company sells is much more dilute. Their product gets exhaused
quickly. Properly mixed CQ-3 lasts a long time, and it works a whole LOT faster.
When I was in school, we had a container of the mix under the sink in the studio,
for use when students would decide they didn't like the finish they'd just achieved
with liver of sulphur, and wanted to take off that deep black sulphide.Fresh new
Tarnex might have done it if given enough time, but the mix in that container did it
in seconds. And the dry granular chemical has unlimited shelf life, unlike the mixed
solution, which eventually seems to degrade... Let me know if you'd like the info on
the manufacturer. It's a company in Cleveland Ohio, if I recall. No web site the
last I checked, about a year ago... But Telephones still work...

cheers

Peter

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 03:51:04 GMT, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Snaggeltooth"
wrote:


here is an off post topic question for you.... If using rhodium for plating
is so common, then why not just make the entire piece out of rhodium?

Well, for one thing, cost. Currently, the market price of rhodium is something
close to $3,800 per ounce. That makes it a rather costly substitute for silver.
The other reason is that rhodium is not a generally workable metal. It'sthe
whitest of the platinum group metals, and like the others, relatively chemically
inactive. but unlike platinum or palladium, it's hard and brittle. The
hardness of the stuff is one reason why it makes a useful plated finish. Tends
to hold up and resist scratching and wear better than other non tarnish white
metals that could be plated, such as palladium, etc.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that it's used over gold to give
it the "white gold" appearance. In terms of value, I know that Platinum is
a far better and more expensive choice, but why couldn't 100% rhodium be
used instead?

Platinum, even at today's very high prices, is much cheaper. And it's workable.
Rhdoium is not.


I purchased those tarnish inhibiting papers from Fire Mountain a year or so
ago, and they're doing exactly as intended. The dry granular chemical is
very intriguing though. What liquid agent is used to create the
solution...Water?

Yes, of course.

In your professional opinion, what is the best polishing
compound to use on silver after a bath in Tarnex?

your choice. Depends on what you've got available. Any of the usual buffing
compounds work. For silver, any decent rouge should be fine. If the surface
needs more than mere brightening up, then try white diamond compound first, then
rouge. Red or yellow rouge are common and traditional, but there are a number
of others that work too. Red traditionally gives the highest finish.


I was thinking that using Tarnex (or other like chemical), then a polishing
compound, then waxing with something like the renaissance wax that you
mentioned would be a fairly time consuming endeavor, but would postpone
tarnishing for quite a long time. I don't think I'd like to do this for all
my silver, but perhaps this would be a good procedure to follow for those
show pieces that would be displayed for awhile. If you don't mind, I would
like to know a bit more about the dry granular chemical - where to get it,
etc.

OK. I remembered the name wrong. it's called CQ-2, (not.3). The label says:
"Cleans Quick" instant silver cleaner. One pound makes one gallon of their full
strength solution. If I recall it right, when I bought it, they said theTarnex
folks mixed this up at a quarter strength (four gallons) I could be wrong about
that. That memory is from 15 years ago...

The company's name is Vin-Rock Inc, in Cleveland OH, 44120, USA. I don'tknow
if that's a full address, or whether some street address might be needed,but
that should be enough to let you find it with a call to Cleveland's directory
assistance or something.

The label instructions say to mix it in a plastic container with cold water.
it's labeled as non toxic and biodegradable, then cautions that it's harmful if
swallowed, and contains Thiocarbamide. (also known as thiourea). It smells,
when mixed, kind of sulphury... I'd suggest using with some ventillationif the
smell bothers you. That applies to the Tarnex product too, by the way...

cheers

Peter

Thiocarbamide is suspected of being carcinogenic. Wear your rubber
gloves....

Peter W.. Rowe, wrote:
On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 03:51:04 GMT, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Snaggeltooth"

The label instructions say to mix it in a plastic container with cold water.
it's labeled as non toxic and biodegradable, then cautions that it's harmful if
swallowed, and contains Thiocarbamide. (also known as thiourea). It smells,
when mixed, kind of sulphury... I'd suggest using with some ventillation if the
smell bothers you. That applies to the Tarnex product too, by the way...

cheers

Peter