Thursday, July 31, 2008

Took the Plunge - 1st Oxidised Sterling Silver Ring, Simple Steps, Hard Boiled Egg

Guess this is the natural progression in my wire jewelry journey - oxidizing my pieces. I have been thinking about it for a while. Actually since I purchased my first sterling silver wire few months back. When I reached home yesterday evening, I headed straight to the kitchen, took out an airtight container and start boiling an egg. So, here are some pictorials to show the whole process of oxidizing my wire wrap sterling silver sparkly ring...hmm, almost whole process except for the polishing part.
Items needed:
Oxidised Sterling Silver Ring, Simple Steps, Hard Boiled EggAn airtight container.
Boiling the egg for oxidising purposeAn egg - hard boiled. Sterling Silver Ring in the container, waiting for the eggSterling Silver Ring in the container, waiting for the egg ***Yummy***
The Process:
removing the egg shellEgg shell removed.
Smashed egg and place both ring and egg inside the containerSmashed egg and place both ring and egg inside the container. The egg should be hot.
Covered the container tightly and left for about 15 minutesCovered the container tightly and left for about 15 minutes. Notice steam inside. Result after 15 minutes, golden brownResult after 15 minutes, golden brown. As the color is not dark enough, egg was reheated in the microwave and placed back into the container. Left it for another 15 minutes.
The result after 30 minutes. Darker.Tada!! The result after 30 minutes. Darker.
Oxidized ring.....and yucky! :)
Oxidized ring after cleaned with waterAfter cleaning it with water. No more shine! Now, I wonder how do I polish this ring? Someone suggested polishing cloth and another steel wool. The problem is, I don't have both...and not sure where to find them......duh! Any suggestion where I can find these two items or you have other suggestions on what can be used (household items?) to polish it. All suggestions are welcome.....Thanks in advance :)

16 comments:

  1. yes mei,,i had publish in my blog article use egg also but never try it..now i knew it really work..im also need to know the simple way how to polish silver sterling same like u dont hav both of that material..maybe someone here know the easy solution..

    thank for that result

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  2. I'll ask my frind who also oxydise their jewellery.

    pss... love your rings and other jewellery!!! may I copy some of them?

    greetings from Poland :o)

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  3. thank you Poranna, hope to hear fr you very soon on polishing my oxidized piece.

    I dont't mind you copying as long as you give credit where its due :)

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  4. thank you! :o)

    one of my friends said that it may help if you take the cloth which is used to clean glasses.

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  5. Poranna, thank you for coming back and for the suggestion. Thank your friend as well.
    I have those type of cloth somewhere around the house. Will look for them in a while.. :D
    Will post the result after that.

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  6. wow Mei you made it! But i always thought it the egg will never get to the jewelry! I was told cut the egg to 4 parts and then put it at all 4 corners, and the jewelry set at the center... will confirm it for ya!

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  7. Yes Corra. You must try it out as well. Nx round i will try out your method :) Thanks for sharing.

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  8. haha... mei I've heard about using egg to oxidize sterling silver but I never try it:) Did you try to check with the jewelry shops if they have the polishing cloth?
    I got mine long time ago from a store selling costume jewelry in Singapore.

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  9. thanks Fran, I have not check them out yet but will do it later.

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  10. Hi Mei. I have done this before. It works faster if you cook the egg too much. The more green stuff there is around the egg yoke the better. The egg doesn't have to touch the jewelry.

    If there is a hardware store that carries steel wool used for fine finishing of wood furniture (size 000 or 0000) you can use this steel wool. Also Sunshine Cloths for polishing. I get mine from Fire Mountain Gems (firemountaingems.com) but do not know if they ship internationally. Let me know if you cannot find them and I will send you some.

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  11. Thank you for the tips Leslie.
    I will search for the steel wool at our local hardware stores first. If I really really can't find them and really desperate for it, then I will let you know. Same with the Sunshine Cloth :)
    Thank you. Its very nice of you to offer.

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  12. You know those little green pads that you use for scrubbing and scouring dishes? You can use them for getting a bit of shine back into your jewelry. They work especially well because you can cut them up and get into the smaller areas.

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  13. ah yeah, this is easy. thank you Carrie. Will try them out.

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  14. Hi Mei.. nice to read ur blog... to polish the silver jewelry.. i sometime use Baking soda and hot water (boiled)... put the jewelry in to the mixed water... and stir it for a while... u can do that for 3 times (or more) till u got satisfied with the shine... :-)

    Regards,
    Rina

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  15. Thanks Rina for the tips.
    I visited your site and your work are beautiful....love your work :)

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  16. Paste type toothpaste is a gentle polish that takes tarnish off silver gradually.

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I like to hear what you have in mind. Thank you for your time.