Simple Silver Cleaning - Results

[MagnusOpum]

It's a safe bet that trying to clean silver isn't really a great idea but I thought I'd share my results from the aluminium and bicarbonate of soda process. 

This is an overly wordy and probably unecessary walk through of what I did but there you go. I've got nothing else going on today. 

Thanks to @James32 for selling me some 'interesting patina' silver 😁

Step 1: Get light-headed while cleaning all the tarnished coins with Isopropanol to get oils and any grime off. Microfibre cloth only! 

Step2: Discover that bicarb and baking powder are not the same thing. 

Step 3: Purchase pure Sodium Bicarbonate. Wait for Yodel to deliver it four doors away. 

Step 4: Line a dish with aluminium foil (must be proper foil, not coated so industrial non food safe stuff is definitely better if you can get it but just make sure it's not plasticised)

Step 5: Boil enough water to fill the lined dish and cover the silver by about 1cm or 2/3 inch

Step 6: Place silver in the dish and cover liberally with bicarb - the worst tarnish should be touching the foil - that definitely works best

Step 7: Pour boiling water in carefully and leave for 10 to 15 minutes

Step 8: Remove each piece with a little slosh to get any remaining bicarb off and rinse thoroughly with cold water before drying with a clean soft cloth (preferably not the one you cleaned the grime off with). You might have bicarb rings so be careful not to try and scrub them off, just go back to rinsing.

You might need a second go for any tarnish that doesn't come off. See my photos for an example of how well it works but where the worst bits need another bash. 

Quick side note, any time I put silver away for long term storage in tubes I clean everything with isopropanol and a super soft cloth, including the tubes.  Possibly completely pointless but I like giving bullion grade PM the best chance. 

[James32]

Wonder can a seller ask for a refund/return 🤔 🤣🤣 congrats,they look a hellova lot better than when I sent them.

[Dakaras]

I enjoyed that read, I'm going to give some of my bullion a go! 

My one question how do I get Yodel as close as 4 doors away? Usually 4 villages away for me.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Dakaras

[MagnusOpum]

12 minutes ago, James32 said:

Wonder can a seller ask for a refund/return 🤔 🤣🤣 congrats,they look a hellova lot better than when I sent them.

Not against the rules 😆 and don't underestimate my gratitude for the price you gave me! If it weren't for the baking powder/bicarb misunderstanding then materials would have been sunk costs 😋

[MagnusOpum]

14 minutes ago, Dakaras said:

I enjoyed that read, I'm going to give some of my bullion a go! 

My one question how do I get Yodel as close as 4 doors away? Usually 4 villages away for me.

Go for it and make sure you tag me in any results you post! 

I've got Yodel down from the road over to only a few doors away through the use of strongly worded emails to their automated system. Nothing like screaming into the void 🙃

[James32]

2 minutes ago, MagnusOpum said:

Not against the rules 😆 and don't underestimate my gratitude for the price you gave me! If it weren't for the baking powder/bicarb misunderstanding then materials would have been sunk costs 😋

Love seeing transformations like this, I'm too easily distracted and would likely end up with a bowl of bicarb and a thin silver disc 😂

[Paul]

Goddards silver polish

[MagnusOpum]

1 hour ago, Paul said:

Goddards silver polish

I think that's best for silver plate or sterling reading the description on their website - the alu/bicarb method is entirely nonabrasive. 

Is polishing fine silver a good idea? On bullion I mean not proof stuff. 

[Dakaras]

15 minutes ago, MagnusOpum said:

I think that's best for silver plate or sterling reading the description on their website - the alu/bicarb method is entirely nonabrasive. 

Is polishing fine silver a good idea? On bullion I mean not proof stuff. 

My opinion only of course but if I buy a bar or coin as bullion and I'm confident that no weight will be lost by cleaning then I would be confident of reselling as bullion with no loss due to clean.....spot price that's a whole different matter 🤣 I wouldn't clean coins unless bullion coins unless really grim.

 

Edited March 19, 2022 by Dakaras

[Happypanda88]

I have used the aluminium & sodium bicarbonate cleaning method as well but find that it isn't as effective as using Tableau Silver Dip from Robert Dyas.

Simply dip your low value bullion silver coin(s) for about 5 seconds and you will amazed with the result. Much less hassle and works great too !  But remember low value silver coins only ! 

 

 

 

[Dakaras]

Just now, Happypanda88 said:

I have used the aluminium & sodium bicarbonate cleaning method as well but find that it isn't as effective as using Tableau Silver Dip from Robert Dyas.

Simply dip your low value bullion silver coin(s) for about 5 seconds and you will amazed with the result. Much less hassle and works great too !  But remember low value silver coins only ! 

 

 

 

Any signs of scratches? 

[Happypanda88]

1 minute ago, Dakaras said:

Any signs of scratches? 

Just dip coin into cleaning solution for a few seconds. No need to rub or polish so there won't be any scatches. Forgot to add rinse coin with clean water and dry with soft cloth.

[Paul]

1 hour ago, MagnusOpum said:

I think that's best for silver plate or sterling reading the description on their website - the alu/bicarb method is entirely nonabrasive. 

Is polishing fine silver a good idea? On bullion I mean not proof stuff. 

Godards silver polish will get rid of your spots on milky maples or tarnish from your yanky eagles, buff to a shine, with clean microfiber   Then add +25% to your eBay price - lovely jubbly ! 

[MagnusOpum]

9 minutes ago, Happypanda88 said:

Just dip coin into cleaning solution for a few seconds. No need to rub or polish so there won't be any scatches. Forgot to add rinse coin with clean water and dry with soft cloth.

I'm must do some research on the chemistry as I'm intrigued to know whether something like dip is acidic or alkaline. I'm wondering whether the alu/bicarb method is the same kind of reaction or if it's doing something different to the tarnish.

I know the jewellers dip works well on platinum and silver as I do my wife's stuff every couple of years. So tempted to make a joke there...

[FourNinesFine]

I'm looking to pass on some of my bullion purchases as gifts to family members as birthdays and other speial ocassions crop up.

Obviously, some of these items show signs of tarnish. What's the best way to restore their lustre whout doing any damage?

We're talking your basic 1oz coins and 1oz bars. - 999 fine.  I just want to remove any obvious spots and give them more of a shine.

Am I best with 'foil and soda', a polishing cloth, a dip, a foam or something else.

Many thanks,

 

FNF.

[MagnusOpum]

3 hours ago, FourNinesFine said:

I'm looking to pass on some of my bullion purchases as gifts to family members as birthdays and other speial ocassions crop up.

Obviously, some of these items show signs of tarnish. What's the best way to restore their lustre whout doing any damage?

We're talking your basic 1oz coins and 1oz bars. - 999 fine.  I just want to remove any obvious spots and give them more of a shine.

Am I best with 'foil and soda', a polishing cloth, a dip, a foam or something else.

Many thanks,

 

FNF.

If it's just tarnish then foil and bicarb is easiest but milk spots will need some proper polish and a bit more care. 

Worth testing on a single piece first and seeing how you get on.  Do share results if you can!

[Scootermuppet]

Interesting thread...

Wonder if any of these methods would affect the Latent Image Security feature on 2021 & later Britannias? 🤔  

[MagnusOpum]

55 minutes ago, Scootermuppet said:

Interesting thread...

Wonder if any of these methods would affect the Latent Image Security feature on 2021 & later Britannias? 🤔  

Tarnish is silver sulfide so removing it through any method would mean you're eroding a super thin layer of the silver itself (although it's technically already lost).  Any tarnish that's really black black is still only about 100 nanometres thick so about ten thousandth of a millimetre.  If the Latent Image is about 1/350th of a millimetre deep then in theory you could tarnish and polish away almost 28 times before the Latent Image was gone.

No, I had nothing better to do this evening.

[Scootermuppet]

4 minutes ago, MagnusOpum said:

Tarnish is silver sulfide so removing it through any method would mean you're eroding a super thin layer of the silver itself (although it's technically already lost).  Any tarnish that's really black black is still only about 100 nanometres thick so about ten thousandth of a millimetre.  If the Latent Image is about 1/350th of a millimetre deep then in theory you could tarnish and polish away almost 28 times before the Latent Image was gone.

No, I had nothing better to do this evening.

Thanks for the comprehensive answer!  😁 Happy to have helped occupy you this evening 😉

Cheers, Bob

[MagnusOpum]

1 minute ago, Scootermuppet said:

Thanks for the comprehensive answer!  😁 Happy to have helped occupy you this evening 😉

Cheers, Bob

It was a great question and I've lost control of the telly due to Badminton Horse Trials😁 

[Scootermuppet]

May have an experiment with some of the different methods in this thread... Do enjoy the practical side of this hobby! 😊 👍

[FourNinesFine]

2 hours ago, MagnusOpum said:

 Badminton Horse Trials😁 

The brown one did it. His hoof prints were all over the crime scene.

[Scootermuppet]

Got to thinking about the chemistry going on with the Aluminium foil method, and came across this video - quite a good explanation IMHO…

 

[Scootermuppet]

… and she shows the tarnish & removal processes in the first video too… 🙂

 

[Scootermuppet]

So, if the reaction is between the silver sulphide (tarnish) and the aluminium foil, in theory, you could leave your silver in for an extended time and not damage the silver - as the reaction should stop when there is no silver sulphide left… In theory at least! 🤔