Skip to main content

Useful Tips For Budding Wireworks #2 Oxidising

The second in a short series of useful tips, this time ~ Oxidising Sterling Silver & Copper jewellery

Whether you oxidise your jewellery or not is a personal choice. I prefer the look of oxidised or "antiqued" Sterling Silver and copper wirework as it adds depth and highlights detail.

What you will need ~


Liver of Sulphur


You can buy Liver of Sulphur in liquid or solid form. I say "solid" but it's really powdery chucks. I prefer the solid form as it is more economical. I buy mine on eBay and it can also be found on jewellery supply sites.





Steel/Wire Wool

0000 or 00000 Grade which can be found in DIY stores






Oxidising your jewellery

Before you start, close the kitchen door and open the back door (wide!) Yes the clue is in the name Sulphur and it stinks like rotten eggs!
Dissolve a small piece of Liver of Sulphur in hot but not boiling water in a small bowl. I keep a bowl especially for oxidising. Avoid touching the Liver of Sulphur if you can help it, it doesn't sting if it comes into contact with your skin but does make your skin tingle for a short while. Always wash your hands if they come into conatct with the Liver of Sulphur. Use a spoon or old pair of flatnose pliers to handle the Liver of Sulphur or gloves if preferred.
Drop your jewellery into the bowl. Copper oxidises very quickly, Sterling Silver takes a bit longer.



Once the jewellery has turned black/grey remove using a spoon/pliers and rinse in a bowl of cold water. Allow to dry on a piece of kitchen roll.
When dry, polish with wire wool over a piece of kitchen roll. This can be quite time~consuming but very therapeutic!




When you've finished cleaning with the wirewool check for any stray bits of wire. How much you clean up your jewellery is up to you : some people leave it fairly black, I prefer it well polished. Finish by polishing to a shine with a silver polishing cloth, available from any supermarket.



The End Result

 Before


After


 The Liver of Sulphur solution can be kept and used again, preferably on the same day, if you heat it up in the microwave. Any longer than a few hours and it loses it's effect. It's advisable to dispose of the solution by tipping down the outside drain!

Comments

  1. Hello,

    Thanks to share your experience with LOS. I am really interested in because i use it a lot. Would you please let me know what you mean by "heat it up in the microwave", and "any longer than a few hours and it loses it's effect". Does it mean there is no more danger if you put it in the microwave after using ?
    Sorry but my english is not so good to understand subtilities...
    Love your wirework, just delicate and lovely.

    xox

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tracy, I am going to try this. The effect is gorgeous and I ordered a heap of copper wire last night! Thanks for the info.
    Amanda

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Your comments and questions are very welcome!
If you would prefer to contact me directly please use the contact form on my "get in touch" page.

Popular posts from this blog

Combining Soldering And Enamel

The need to make cute, brightly coloured enamel studs propelled me into the world of combining soldering with enamel a couple of years ago. I knew from reading up on it that it was possible to enamel and solder on the same piece but wasn't too confident I was able to do it back then. It was a slightly embarrassing occurance that made me just get on with - I'd made some enamel studs with glued on stud posts. I'd used 2 part epoxy resin which was a job in itself as it set hard after 5 minutes so I had to keep mixing more up. The finished studs looked ok but that little voice in my head kept asking "are you sure you want to use glue?" I wasn't but didn't think I had any other way to do it so I used glue. I sold my first pair and merrily sent them on their way to Canada. A couple of week later the buyer got in touch to say the stud post had come off one of the earrings and the other was hanging off. I was mortified, apologized profusely and refunded her m

Etching Silver Using Nail Art Stamps

So my love/hate relationship with etching sterling silver continues. I've tried a few times now and always end up with different results most of them not that great to be honest. I've tried connecting the silver and a piece of copper to a 9v battery and also heating the ferric nitrate. Sometimes the results are good sometimes not so good. I currently have an etched piece of silver sheet waiting to be reticulated and rid it of the mess that is the etched "pattern".  I now know that using stamps and Stayz On ink just doesn't work with silver - the time needed to etch using ferric nitrate is much longer than etching copper and the ink starts to wear away after about an hour. This results in the pattern being patchy as the resist is eaten away and the silver ends up quite lumpy and course looking. I have yet to try using pnp paper. I don't know why but it all seems a bit of a faff to do. I don't have a laser printer so would need to find somewhere or

Embossing Metal With My Sizzix Bigshot

I must admit up until a few weeks ago I was vaguely familiar with the name Sizzix but as to what you actually did with a "Sizzix" I was completely in the dark! That was until I stumbled across a video from Vintaj showing how you could use their embossing folders with a Bigshot to create designs on metal ("metal" - my favourite word after chocolate!) I was really impressed and itching to have a go, I just needed a Bigshot........ I waited a few weeks then when the urge to possess one overcame me I went out debit card at the ready..............and the shop had sold out! So I trundled off to The Range on the off chance and came home clutching my own surprisingly heavy pink and black wonder machine. It sat on the dining room table for a couple of days while I waited for the embossing folders I'd ordered online to arrive then the time came to start playing! I started with some pre-cut 24g copper hearts and the Wildflower Vines and the Butterfly Swirls Deco