hi! this has A very bad greenie. I am thinking because of the sport ring this might be almost, if not, antique. Should I clean the whole thing or just attempt to clean the bad area? I’m selling this so would you clean it at all? I am thinking at least try to do the very bad area opinions please.
I'm not a metal or jewelry expert. However, I once found a cool silver ring with a 18k gold heart locket attached to a loop on top of the ring. The heart piece had tiny diamonds. I paid a $1 for it at a flea market. It had the purity stamps for both gold and silver and a teeny maker's mark but I could never figure out who made it. Anyway, cool story segway into how I cleaned the silver because there was no way to get into all the spaces because of the design. I found this technique online where you use a boiling pot of water, some baking soda, and a piece of aluminum foil. It's a safe chemical reaction method for cleaning the silver–no fumes, safe to touch without gloves (besides the boiling part . You might have to double check the ingredients list, pretty sure that was all it took. Something about the electrons make an exchange and presto! silver is bright and shiny after a couple minutes of gently swishing it around in the soup with an everyday utensil. It really worked. Felt like I was on an episode of Mr. Wizard if you know that 80s show from Nickelodeon? Double-check those three ingredients and search to see if there's a method for other metals or if that mixture will work on this. I'm not sure what metal you are dealing with? ...so I looked it up already there's salt and vinegar too in some of the silver cleaning recipes. Good Luck!
Hi @gauntlettgems! Until some of the ‘Jewelies’ reply, why not just try a sudsy brief soapy bath, with a tooth brush on just the green area….I don’t think that will hurt anything and might get rid of the green….or not….if not, wait for the ‘Jewelies’ to check in!!
Hi @ZeeFinds I do happen to use that on silver. It’s fabulous. Saves so much time!! this is not silver. I wonder if that method is safe to use on other metals. I think I remember trying it on real good and it made it looks shiny. It removed a lot of body oils and such. Ick!
Ah, never tried just using soap. I use dawn on other things. Maybe I’ll give that a go. I think this metal has a nice age look to it and cleaning the whole thing would kinda ruin that look.
Of course, the patina! Dremel tool? Removes the green, leaves the next surface level intact. Go slowly. I'm out of ideas.
I would try a little white vinegar with a toothbrush, and then rinse in water, just on the green spot. It will very likely be darker than the surrounding metal once cleaned of the green stuff.
Why so complicated when you have vinegar? Most (if not all) joolies use a vinegar bath for verdigris. In cases like this I find that rubbing the affected area with a little oil first helps loosen the verdigris. Rinse and dry after the vinegar bath. And yes, just the affected area. The aluminium cleaning process is controversial btw, and I have no idea what it would do to the nice sheen on the brass.. Controversy aside, verdigris is copper sulfate, not silver sulfide. I have no idea if a method binding silver sulfide to aluminium will also bind copper sulfate to aluminium. Frankly, I doubt it.
Soak it in vinegar. I loathe that foil thing for silver, it ruins the patina. The process is electrolysis. Al and NaCHO3 reacting with Ag2S. I could probably still work the formula out given enough coffee, but it won't work with CuSO4. Silver atoms migrate.
I knew there was a reason, but couldn't remember it. I think I also need coffee. I thought so, couldn't imagine that alu process for silver sulfide also works for copper sulfate. Now get back to your coffee.
I would give the very green area a little soak in vinegar and a gentle scrub with a toothbrush. Then when the worst is off I’d then soak the whole thing in white vinegar which will get into all the nooks and crannies. It may only need a very short soak (minutes) so watch it like a hawk as if you leave it in too long the metal sometimes goes a pinky colour. If you don’t tackle the very green part first you may have to leave it in the vinegar too long for the bits that don’t really need it if that makes sense. The vinegar should remove any hidden verdigris but will also brighten the metal. Then give it a good wash in liquid dish soap and dry well. I’ve used the tin foil method and found it unreliable and not as effective as silver foam.
Whatever you decide to do it is important that the piece is thoroughly dried after, moisture causes lots of problems! Oh, and I agree about the foil thing, it's as bad as using Tarnex
Thirded or fourthed on the foil method; it's only to be used to take scabby silverplate down to the bare metal, or for on things that are solid silver but of no great age. I'd take a dry tooth brush to the green area to knock off some of the gunk, and then cover the green part in ketchup or soak it in vinegar to get rid of the rest. Be aware that any applied coating is gone-zo under the green. DO NOT SOAK THOSE BEADS in water. Water is death to applied coatings and might damage the aurora borealis coating. It might be fine, but don't find out the hard way. If it must be dunked, put it somewhere it'll get bone dry again afterward since moisture is what turned the green part green in the first place.
I tend to prefer vinegar to brown sauce/ketchup in case those latter colour the thing. A hairdryer is a Useful Thing.
I have also heard that a soak in olive oil will remove verdigris without hurting the surrounding metal, but I have not tried this.
I usually do that with, but bad verdigris often you do need to use vinegar afterwards. The combination works good.
