Home » Blog » Safety Pickle Myths Dispelled
Safety Pickle myths dispelled!
Safety Pickle Myths Dispelled.
Safety pickle is a really vital product to use when soldering jewellery but there’s often a lot of information around that makes it seem a little bit scary, so why not let us at Kernowcraft put your mind at rest as we dispel the myths surrounding safety pickle.
We spend a lot of time on craft and jewellery forums and often come across lots of questions surrounding using safety pickle, so we thought why not put these questions to rest!
What is safety pickle?
Safety pickle removes oxides from the surface of precious metal components after casting, soldering, annealing and any other processes involving heat. Once pickled your piece is ready to be finished and polished in whatever way you fancy. It is an ideal alternative to the dangerous acids normally used and is very easy to use whether you make jewellery from home or are lucky enough to have your own workshop.
Do I need to use it warm?
It’s recommended to use safety pickle whilst warm and to maintain a heat of 50c whilst your piece is immersed in it. However this isn’t vital when using safety pickle, our jeweller actually uses the pickle cold to quench the piece immediately after soldering and it is just as effective (he does mix the pickle up with warm water to start with though). Although heat speeds up the process it is possible for the pickle to work when cold. A few of our staff members make jewellery at home and simply pop their piece into the pickle overnight to remove fire stain, then after a hard day’s work at the Kernowcraft office the piece is ready for them when they return home! We’ve heard some great suggestions for keeping your pickle warm from customers, including using a cheap slow cooker to keep it at a constant temperature…just remember not to cook in it afterwards!
Can safety pickle be reused?
Yes! It’s a good idea to mix the pickle with warm water to start with but after you’ve used it you can pop it into a storage jar and keep for the next time, we use an old coffee jar here! You can keep reusing it for a while, you’ll be able to tell when it’s finished with because the silver won’t clean as well as it did before.
How corrosive is it?
Safety pickle is a mildly corrosive formula, it is safe to use but care should always be taken not to get the product in the eyes or have prolonged contact with skin. It’s best not to get it on your hands, especially if you have skin complaints, but don’t panic if it does get on your skin, simply wash the area with soap and water.
Does it corrode metal tweezers?
It’s a common myth that safety pickle corrodes metal tweezers, in actual fact it does something very different. If you use ferrous metal tweezers in pickle the copper oxides in the pickle will become suspended in the solution. That’s the technical part done with but how does it affect you? Well, this causes the pickle to turn blue, and even worse, plate your piece with copper! Not great when you’re using silver! There’s a simple way to stop this happening, you can use brass or plastic tweezers to remove your stuff from the pickle, or if you haven’t got either of these, careful manoeuvring with a plastic fork can work just as well. The same reaction happens if you leave the binding wire on, so be careful to remove it before pickling.
How long do I need to leave something in the pickle?
This really depends on the size of the piece, how much fire stain has appeared on it and how warm your pickle is. It can take seconds or minutes, it all depends on how warm your pickle is! We usually leave ours in overnight just to make sure all stain is removed but it’s best to play it by ear (or eye!) and see when the stain has disappeared.
For our guide on using Safety Pickle including how to mix it, please click here.
Click here to buy safety pickle.
17th February 2011