HELP: Acid Earring Problem

LSlydice on 14/04/2018 - 08:30
Last edited 14/04/2018 - 12:37 by 1 other user

Hi OzBargainers,

I need your help.

About 5 years back my boyfriend bought me a pair of earrings from Thomas Sabo for Christmas. I loved these earrings and wore them everyday. Because I loved them so much I paid a lot of attention to them. One day I noticed one earring was more cloudy than the other so I used a toothbrush to clean it. The next day I noticed it still wasn't equal in sparkle so I tried cleaning it with a toothbrush again. Repeat for a few weeks.

The back of the earrings is something that looks sort of like a cage so I though maybe that was stopping my toothbrush bristles from scrubbing the right spot. Then I had an ingenious (downright stupid) idea: I could use the same salicylic acid solution that I use for cleaning my retainers (others use it for cleaning dentures) to help me clean those hard to reach spots on my earring.

So I put my earring in acid and after 10 minutes I pulled it out and the metal looked black (not silver) and was soft so the hook part didn't hold it's shape. I've sort of (not really) bent it back into shape and after years of avoiding looking at it the black metal has now turned a splotchy dull grey.

I've had this problem for a long time but still don't know how to fix it. I think my stupidity and shame made me put fixing it off. Hoping the collective mind has some ideas to help me out.

Here are some pictures of my beloved earrings:
https://imgur.com/zTFukRu
https://imgur.com/zTFukRu

TLDR; Put earring in salicylic acid hoping to clean it. Silver metal became black and malleable. Over time black metal became splotchy grey. How can I fix it?

Edit: Thanks for all your comments. Definitely feeling the Ozbargain love even if I haven't found a solution to my problem yet :)

Fashion & Apparel Earrings Fix Jewellery Mistake

Comments

  • tighttighttight1 on 17/04/2018 - 12:32

    You could solder it

  • Butt Scratcher on 17/04/2018 - 13:26

    RIP if the metal has gone all soft, black/dull, I don't think there's any fixing that.

    Reminds me of what my aunty did to my necklace. She had the right intention and everything, but i was still quite annoyed by it.

    Back when I was around 14, I visited my aunt and she told me about this cool home remedy that she used to clean her jewelry. Makes it look like new she said. I told her no a few times, but she insisted so I ended up handing it over.

    She threw it in a pot with a bit of lemon juice in it. Bloody thing went black and all soft, so the clip wouldn't hold tightly anymore. I was wondering why she took so long to give it back to me, turns out what she handed back to me was after she scrubbed/polished some off the black stuff out.

    So now i'm left with a necklace that is blacked in areas she couldn't scrub, and all dull in areas she did because of whatever abrasive she used (likely grabbed one of those abrasive kitchen sponge).

    I'm still wearing it 8-10 years later, but it never regained its hardness (I believe its made of silver)

  • Chickin on 06/10/2018 - 11:17

    Hi, I saw these in Shiels - they look a little like yours and I thought you might be interested - https://www.shiels.com.au/sterling-silver-pear-drop-claw-set…
    :-)

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