Hope someone can help...I've just got this wire out for the first time in a while & it's quite tarnished :(... will that disappear in the flame or do I need to clean it with something? Just a bit unsure about using anything chemical...
It will ball up in the flame anyway, I'd probably just use it and then give the finished bead a wipe over with a silver cloth when it's finished and annealed.
hi,
If you are not sure give it a clean. Try a bit of aluminium foil in a dish put the silver on the foil, make sure the silver contacts the foil,then cover with bicarb of soda mixed into warm water. You should see small bubbles as the tarnish reacts with the foil and bicard solution. This works for cleaning silver especially if it has intricate patterns. It may help to keep your silver in a zip bag (plastic bag that you can seal - freezer bags?) as this helps reduce the tarnish build up.
It's not a problem if fine silver is slightly tarnished, provided it's just a bit yellowed. It will clean up almost instantly in the flame.
Sterling tarnishes so quickly with me, but my fine silver wire is blutacked to my glass bench so I can pull with one hand and never tarnished? Is this Murphy telling me his law will allow me to work only in fine silver for jewellery (no way) and I'll neer need to polish a pair of silver earwires again?
Thanks for replies - all seems fine, nice and silvery on the beads :)