Sterling Silver

Dec03

by admin on December 3rd, 2011 at 12:14 pm

Posted In: Coins

Is there any way to remove hardened acrylic water from sterling silver chain?

I have 20 feet of sterling silver chain that I accidentally exposed to acrylic water while making a floral arrangement. I didn’t realize it at the time, and now the chain is all crimped and curled. Is there anything I can soak this silver chain in to get rid of the acrylic water? 20 feet of sterling silver snake chain is not cheap these days, and really hate the thought of throwing that money away!

Electrolytic Cleaning Solution:

Ingredients:
¼ cup baking soda
¼ cup salt
¼ cup liquid dish soap
½ gallon of water
Equipment:
Large pot
Aluminum foil
Plastic spoon
Stove top
colander or strainer
towel
Take a large pot, such as a spaghetti pot, and completly line the inside with aluminum foil. Pour all of the ingredients into the pot and stir with your plastic spoon. Collect the sterling silver jewelry you want to clean, and count each item so you know the total number you put into the pot. Place them into the solution and spread them out on the bottom of the pot so they don’t touch each other. Bring this to a low boil for a few minutes. Then turn off the burner and let it sit for another couple of minutes. Then using the colander or strainer, pour out the solution. Rinse well with cold water making sure that all salt is rinsed off your silver. (Salt will eventually corrode metal.) Count your items as you place them on a towel to dry. Make sure you’ve accounted for all your jewelry before you throw away the aluminum. It will be dirty because the oxides on your jewelry were transferred to it. Your sterling silver jewelry should now look like new.
Super Cleaner
In an eight ounce container (pickle jars work well), combine one inch of cleaning detergent (Top Job or Mr. Clean), one inch of dish washing liquid, and one inch of ammonia. Fill the rest of the container with water. Shake well. Use your microwave to heat up solution slightly or put in an old pot (you don’t use for food) and simmer on stove top. Place jewelry (silver or gold) into solution and let sit for about ten minutes. Remove from solution and rinse with water. That’s it.

Both these cleaner work well. For silver, I prefer the first recipe since it uses ingredients most people have around the house, and it’s not as toxic as the second recipe so it’s safer if you have children or animals around your house. The Super Cleaner can also be used for cleaning your jewelry projects in between buffing compounds so your polishing wheels don’t get contaminated or caked up.