How can I remove tarnish from old bulk spool of tinsel ??

[Techie Guy]

Hi all

I bought a bulk spool of silver tinsel a number of years ago and it
was meant to last forever. However after 3 or 4 years the tinsel
started showing signs of tarnishing. In my wisdom I cut a piece and
dipped it in the wifes silver cleaning dip and it came up sparkling
bright. So a few days later I decided to dip the whole spool (when the
wife was out of course) anyway the spool was sparkling bright and I
was very pleased with it.

Then a week later I went to tie a fly and the tinsel had seriously
tarnished to a very dull grey. I think there must have been a reaction
with the air afterwards and I appear to have lost a huge spool of oval
silver tinsel. :-(

I did thoroughly wash the spool after dipping but I'm afraid it did'nt
stop the reaction.

Does anyone know of a safer dip that would remove the tarnish again
and not have a reaction so soon afterwards. (1 week)

Thanks in advance for any offers of advice.

[Kevin Vang]

In article >,
says...
> Hi all
>
> I bought a bulk spool of silver tinsel a number of years ago and it
> was meant to last forever. However after 3 or 4 years the tinsel
> started showing signs of tarnishing.


Step 1) Heave the tarnished tinsel into the nearest trash receptacle.

Step 2) Go to your local flyshop or get out the catalogs, and purchase
a new spool of mylar tinsel. This will last forever without tarnishing,
and is a lot easier to tie with as well. It's probably cheaper than
buying tarnish remover.

HTH,
Kevin

[Mike Connor]

"Techie Guy" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
<SNIP>.
>
> Does anyone know of a safer dip that would remove the tarnish again
> and not have a reaction so soon afterwards. (1 week)
>
> Thanks in advance for any offers of advice.
>
>

Various chemical dips will remove the tarnishing, but this exposes the blank
silver to the air, and it immediately tarnishes again. The "tarnish" is
mainly caused by black silver sulphide forming on the surface. The
sulphur is in the atmosphere, mostly as a gas called hydrogen sulphide,
which is produced by vehicle exhausts, chimneys etc etc Tarnishing is worse
in cities, or industrial areas. Both fine silver, and sterling silver are
affected.

The only half way satisfactory way to clean tinsel like this is at the tying
bench. Draw a length through a cloth containing a little jewellers rouge, or
use one of the proprietary silver cleaning cloths. Some of these also
contain various ingredients which will delay the tarnishing.

There is no way to stop blank silver tarnishing, except by coating it with
something, after it has been polished. You could try nail varnish. Various
chemical dips will remove the tarnishing, but this exposes the silver to the
air, and it immediately tarnishes again.

Silver tinsel will also tarnish on the flies tied with it, and the tarnish
will often discolour the flies badly as well.

If you want ease of use, and non-tarnishing silver, then use a plastic
tinsel such as mylar, etc.

TL
MC

[Kenneth Ramstad]

Here is an article that might be useful:

http://www.fedflyfishers.org/FlyTying/SALFLYER/vol_2/fall/polish.htm

Cheers,
Ken


"Mike Connor" > skrev i melding
...
>
> "Techie Guy" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> ...
> <SNIP>.
> >
> > Does anyone know of a safer dip that would remove the tarnish again
> > and not have a reaction so soon afterwards. (1 week)
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any offers of advice.
> >
> >
>
> Various chemical dips will remove the tarnishing, but this exposes the
blank
> silver to the air, and it immediately tarnishes again. The "tarnish" is
> mainly caused by black silver sulphide forming on the surface. The
> sulphur is in the atmosphere, mostly as a gas called hydrogen sulphide,
> which is produced by vehicle exhausts, chimneys etc etc Tarnishing is
worse
> in cities, or industrial areas. Both fine silver, and sterling silver are
> affected.
>
> The only half way satisfactory way to clean tinsel like this is at the
tying
> bench. Draw a length through a cloth containing a little jewellers rouge,
or
> use one of the proprietary silver cleaning cloths. Some of these also
> contain various ingredients which will delay the tarnishing.
>
> There is no way to stop blank silver tarnishing, except by coating it with
> something, after it has been polished. You could try nail varnish.
Various
> chemical dips will remove the tarnishing, but this exposes the silver to
the
> air, and it immediately tarnishes again.
>
> Silver tinsel will also tarnish on the flies tied with it, and the tarnish
> will often discolour the flies badly as well.
>
> If you want ease of use, and non-tarnishing silver, then use a plastic
> tinsel such as mylar, etc.
>
> TL
> MC
>
>

[Lat705]

What material is the "silver " tinsel made of? If it is truly silver, I do not
recommendfthrowing it away.


Lou T

[Techie Guy]

On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 22:25:51 +0100, "Mike Connor"
> wrote:

<snip>
>
>The only half way satisfactory way to clean tinsel like this is at the tying
>bench. Draw a length through a cloth containing a little jewellers rouge, or
>use one of the proprietary silver cleaning cloths. Some of these also
>contain various ingredients which will delay the tarnishing.
>
>There is no way to stop blank silver tarnishing, except by coating it with
>something, after it has been polished. You could try nail varnish. Various
>chemical dips will remove the tarnishing, but this exposes the silver to the
>air, and it immediately tarnishes again.
>
>Silver tinsel will also tarnish on the flies tied with it, and the tarnish
>will often discolour the flies badly as well.
>
>If you want ease of use, and non-tarnishing silver, then use a plastic
>tinsel such as mylar, etc.
>
>TL
>MC
I guess the cloth is my best option unless someone knows a secret
formula for a dip that doesn't make the tinsel re-tarnish too quickly.
My worry is that if I clean the tinsel and then tie up some Salmon
flies with it. The tinsel will re-tarnish and detract for the look of
the finished fly within a week or so.

I appreciate that tinsel will tarnish on flies anyway but this is
usually quite a long term process of years rather than days or weeks.

Thanks
Techie Guy(aquatyer)
--
http://www.flytier.co.uk

[Mike Connor]

"Techie Guy" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
> On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 22:25:51 +0100, "Mike Connor"
> > wrote:
>
> <snip>
>> I guess the cloth is my best option unless someone knows a secret
> formula for a dip that doesn't make the tinsel re-tarnish too quickly.
> My worry is that if I clean the tinsel and then tie up some Salmon
> flies with it. The tinsel will re-tarnish and detract for the look of
> the finished fly within a week or so.
>
> I appreciate that tinsel will tarnish on flies anyway but this is
> usually quite a long term process of years rather than days or weeks.
>
> Thanks
> Techie Guy(aquatyer)
> --
> http://www.flytier.co.uk

Yes, I reckon the silver cleaning cloth is your best option, although the
stuff that the guy described in the other post sounds good as well.

The "standard" dip for cleaning silver was washing soda ( washing soda NOT
bicarbonate), with a few pieces of aluminium foil in it. This removes the
tarnish immediately, and a quick polish afterwards restores the lustre.
Don´t know how long it lasts though. I have only ever used it on silver
spoons, and not very often either. They all turn black eventually though.

Really, there is no good reason to use genuine silver tinsel anymore.
Plastic is much better.

TL
MC

[Larry]

> I guess the cloth is my best option unless someone knows a secret
> formula for a dip that doesn't make the tinsel re-tarnish too quickly.
> My worry is that if I clean the tinsel and then tie up some Salmon
> flies with it. The tinsel will re-tarnish and detract for the look of
> the finished fly within a week or so.
>
> I appreciate that tinsel will tarnish on flies anyway but this is
> usually quite a long term process of years rather than days or weeks.

Well, you can coat the tinsel with nail polish just before applying it
to the fly and let it dry thoroughly prior to wrapping. That's what
I've done for some shadow box Salmon flies that I've tied. I've also
used a VERY THIN coat of softex, which remains flexible after it dries,
but I'm a bit concerned that it will yellow over time.

Larry

[Wolfgang]

"Techie Guy" > wrote in message
...

> I guess the cloth is my best option unless someone knows a secret
> formula for a dip that doesn't make the tinsel re-tarnish too quickly.
> My worry is that if I clean the tinsel and then tie up some Salmon
> flies with it. The tinsel will re-tarnish and detract for the look of
> the finished fly within a week or so.
>
> I appreciate that tinsel will tarnish on flies anyway but this is
> usually quite a long term process of years rather than days or weeks.

I don't know any secret formulas, but there is a very cheap, easy and
effective way to remove the tarnish without using any chemicals at all. A
simple old fashioned pencil eraser will do the job nicely. Of course, there
is no way to prevent the silver from tarnishing again without providing a
barrier that will seal it against contact with air. I've never tried it
myself, but I suspect that a good automotive wax would do the trick. No
thick coating, no flexibility issues, and relatively benign, chemically.

Wolfgang

[Hooked]

"Mike Connor" > wrote in message
...
>
> Really, there is no good reason to use genuine silver tinsel anymore.
> Plastic is much better.
>


The only reason to use the real tinsel would be to immitate the original
style flies. I have been thinking about trying to get some real tinsel for
tying up some of the original pattern Spey & Dee flies like the Lady
Caroline, Carron, Black Heron and Glen Grant.

Using mylar just wouldn't do these flies justice.

For all other flies though, those for fishing, I would use the mylar tinsel.

[Techie Guy]

On Sat, 7 Feb 2004 11:46:52 -0600, "Wolfgang" >
wrote:

>
>"Techie Guy" > wrote in message
...
>
>> I guess the cloth is my best option unless someone knows a secret
>> formula for a dip that doesn't make the tinsel re-tarnish too quickly.
>> My worry is that if I clean the tinsel and then tie up some Salmon
>> flies with it. The tinsel will re-tarnish and detract for the look of
>> the finished fly within a week or so.
>>
>> I appreciate that tinsel will tarnish on flies anyway but this is
>> usually quite a long term process of years rather than days or weeks.
>
>I don't know any secret formulas, but there is a very cheap, easy and
>effective way to remove the tarnish without using any chemicals at all. A
>simple old fashioned pencil eraser will do the job nicely. Of course, there
>is no way to prevent the silver from tarnishing again without providing a
>barrier that will seal it against contact with air. I've never tried it
>myself, but I suspect that a good automotive wax would do the trick. No
>thick coating, no flexibility issues, and relatively benign, chemically.
>
>Wolfgang
>

Thanks

Here's an update.

I've been trying various benign solutions.
I tried washing soda and tinsel in hot water but nothing happened.
I soaked in Baking Soda overnight and the tinsel turned green.
Then I tried Cola as Coke'a'Cola used to shine up coins however I
think they removed the ingredient that caused this effect. Anyway the
tinsel stained brown with the cola.(overnight)

The last thing I tried seems to have given me some success.
I soaked in water and plain old washing powder for clothes for about
24 hrs, and all previous stains were removed as well as most of the
tarnish if not all of the tarnish. It's been nearly a week and there
appears to be no re-tarnishing of the tinsel and I believe I can now
use it. Possible with a cloth wipe first just to bring it up a bit
more.
Time will tell on the re-tarnishing effect and I feel it will take a
long time to re-tarnish.


Thanks again to all

Techie Guy(Aquatyer)
--
http://www.flytier.co.uk
http://www.flytyer.co.uk
http://www.f-deans.freeserve.co.uk
--

[Hooked]

"Techie Guy" > wrote in message
...
>
> The last thing I tried seems to have given me some success.
> I soaked in water and plain old washing powder for clothes for about
> 24 hrs, and all previous stains were removed as well as most of the
> tarnish if not all of the tarnish. It's been nearly a week and there
> appears to be no re-tarnishing of the tinsel and I believe I can now
> use it. Possible with a cloth wipe first just to bring it up a bit
> more.
> Time will tell on the re-tarnishing effect and I feel it will take a
> long time to re-tarnish.


What type of "plain old washing powder" was it? "Arm&Hammer?" That stuff has
baking soda in it.

[Techie Guy]

On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 23:44:34 GMT, "Hooked" > wrote:

>"Techie Guy" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> The last thing I tried seems to have given me some success.
>> I soaked in water and plain old washing powder for clothes for about
>> 24 hrs, and all previous stains were removed as well as most of the
>> tarnish if not all of the tarnish. It's been nearly a week and there
>> appears to be no re-tarnishing of the tinsel and I believe I can now
>> use it. Possible with a cloth wipe first just to bring it up a bit
>> more.
>> Time will tell on the re-tarnishing effect and I feel it will take a
>> long time to re-tarnish.
>
>
>What type of "plain old washing powder" was it? "Arm&Hammer?" That stuff has
>baking soda in it.
>

I'm in the UK so don't know if you guys get the same washing powders.

Anyway it was Bold Aqua and the wife informs me that Persil is even
better as it removes very bad burn stains from the bottom of a metal
pan

Maybe I should have asked her LOL!

[Hooked]

"Techie Guy" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 23:44:34 GMT, "Hooked" > wrote:
>
> Anyway it was Bold Aqua and the wife informs me that Persil is even
> better as it removes very bad burn stains from the bottom of a metal
> pan
>
> Maybe I should have asked her LOL!
>


And you call yourself the "Techie Guy." Should be the "Techie Gals SO."
:-)

[Techie Guy]

On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 00:46:48 -0600, "Hooked" >
wrote:

>"Techie Guy" > wrote in message
...
>> On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 23:44:34 GMT, "Hooked" > wrote:
>>
>> Anyway it was Bold Aqua and the wife informs me that Persil is even
>> better as it removes very bad burn stains from the bottom of a metal
>> pan
>>
>> Maybe I should have asked her LOL!
>>
>
>
>And you call yourself the "Techie Guy." Should be the "Techie Gals SO."
>:-)
>
>
>
Ididn't ask her honest :-)