QuestionQUESTION: A google search looking for info on cleaning old jewelry led me to some of your answered questions. Even though it did not specifically answer my question, I took notes. Great info!
I used vinegar to soak some gold looking bead caps from old broken bead jewelry I had taken apart. The beads were really what I had been after, but I thought I'd try to salvage the metal and if I couldn't, oh well. They had a black gunk on them. Some of the gunk turned out to be pretty bad rust spots. The vinegar took off the rust, but the rust took off the plating. I threw them away. Some of them though, came out nice and shiny. And others still had the gold color, but look very dull. What kind of metal could these be? Is there a way to restore the shine on the dull ones?
ANSWER: Heidi, thanks for contacting me. Costume jewelry is not my specialty but I have seen enough of it and plenty of old metal beads, some with discoloration just as you described.
If the rust was actually the reddish rust color, the beads may be an iron product, a type of steel. I have seen steel beads that actually do rust. Generally, old beads are a brass metal of some sort and tarnish "gunk" tends to be of a greenish color, indicative of a copper content.
As for restoring a shine, I wish you luck and a few possible ways to do that. The first is the oldest method for "at home use" and is simple baking soda. Make a paste of the soda and rub the beads with your fingers with the paste. The soda has mild abrasive qualities when in paste form and will clean to some extent. The shine will likely not be bright but better than before.
Another option is one of the newer jewelry polishing cloths. The old ones had two sides, one red and full of messy jewelers rouge and the other to wipe off the mess. Those cloths were not very effective at removing tarnish but do fine in restoring a shine. The newer cloths are chemically impregnated and work wonderfully well. One brand name is "Sunshine Cloth", distributed by Rio Grande.
www.riogrande.com (no online catalog)
Many jewelers and even more crafts shops use Rio as a supplier and may have the cloths in stock or can get you a couple. You simply wipe the metal. The cloth will become almost black from many, many uses but keep using until it quits working. Then throw it away. These work well. There are also other brands out there doing essentially the same thing.
I wish you the best in cleaning the beads. This is always iffy with old stuff. The plate might be quite thin and not respond well to polishing or might already be damaged. Still, it is worth a try. BTW, to get the rust off with vinegar is a good idea. The acid in vinegar is gentle and should do no harm beyond helping remove the crud.
If you need more info, please get back to me with the "follow-up" option. I should be here when I get home after work.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas. Sept. 13,2007 8:38pm
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: The Baking soda paste did the trick! They shined right up! And without any of the plating coming off. I just have to perfect the amount of rubbing I do so it comes out even. Thank you! I am definitely going to try the foil thing for my silver pieces. I hate the chemical smells of tarnish removers. (I have 2 small children) I am going to get one of those cloths too.
Great Info!
God Bless!
Heidi
AnswerHeidi, I am really glad it worked. I thought it might. I have to respond to this follow-up from you or the "allexperts" machine thinks I have an unanswered pending question.
If you want to rate the question, that would be fine. If not, that is ok,too. Mostly I am glad you did find some help in what I provided.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas. September 13, 2007 10:04pm
