Monday, April 27, 2009

Oxidized Sterling Silver Wire



I bought some oxidized wire a few times, and then I found a nifty way to do it myself. Oxidized sterling silver, is basically tarnished on purpose, so it comes out mostly black or dark gray. I followed a tutorial online that uses boiled eggs instead of liver of sulfur (which I haven't tried). Here's a link to the tutorial: http://beading.consumerhelpweb.com/basics/reference/oxidize.htm

I found this really easy to do. And it's non-toxic, which is a plus. I discovered the key was to really mash up the hard boiled eggs after putting them in the plastic bags with my silver. However, it gets egg on Everything- so prepare to wash your stuff afterward. I decided to put in wire and some other findings instead of finished pieces. Above is a pic of a bracelet I made with oxidized wire along with a pic of the tarnished wire and findings.

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