TIPS AND TRICKS
Occasional insights into beading, jewelry making, and business…
One is called Liver of Sulphur. With Liver of Sulphur, this turns silver into a dull black. When using Liver of Sulphur, either the solution needs to be hot, or the metal needs to be hot. To heat the solution, you can put it in the microwave for 90 seconds.
Another product is called Black Max. Black max turns silver into a dark black. The product does not have to be hot. It has a shorter shelf-life, however.
With both of these products, you can darken your silver, and then take a soft cloth, like a piece of denim, and buff the surfaces, so that the top surfaces gleem, and the crevices are dark.
Another thing you can do is to buy an antiquing solution, or use a dark color varnish. You paint this on, and then rub it off with a soft cloth. Let it dry for about 20 minutes, and repeat, if you need the antiquing to be darker. This leaves a glossy black finish. Here, again, you usually want to leave some gradations of color on the metal, so that the top surfaces are shinier than the crevices.
You can also use a hard boiled egg. Put your silver in a plastic bag along with a hard boiled egg. The sulphur from the egg will blacken your silver.
If you want to speed up the tarnishing process, but do not want to turn your product black, spray your metal with Windex with Ammonia. The ammonia will turn the silver black, and the low amount of ammonia in this product will make the process more gradual.
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