How to Stop Silver Leaf from Tarnishing?

[Bobbie Rochow]

I made some glass pieces for Christmas gifts, one for my husband & one for my friend. My husband's is tarnishing, the silver part where it is glue chipped & silver leafed. I see yellowing & other "nice" things happening to it. When I look closely at the piece, I can see many imperfections, & I already told both my husband & my friend they were test pieces, but I need to know the proper way to do this.

I used gelatin water size to lay the silver on the glue chipping, with distilled water. I backed it up with back up black. I also have done that first reverse painted glass piece recently with some silver leaf on it, which looks fine so far. I think I backed it with silver One Shot, then backup black behind it.

I am supposing I should not use quick size to lay the silver, right?

Another question, I have done a few samll pieces for my sisters for gifts, using quick size to lay the copper & varigated leafs. Will these tarnish?

I love doing this so much, but I need to know how to preserve the work I do as I learn. Can you guys help me please?

Thank you!!!

[Danny Baronian]

Bobbie,

there was recent discussion on this, you might want to do a search on the site for tarnish.

Short answer, don't use one shot as a back up over silver, it will tarnish.

From Larry: If you back-up your mirroring with OneShot, it'll tarnish. Use a mirror back-up.

From Pat Mackle: One shot is an oil base enamel, the petroleum base could have a sulphur trace. (the sulphur will do it).

Back it up with mirror back up paint or shellac. Shellac is usually carried at most hardware stores. It will provide a barrier to paint over with one shot. Shellac must be cleaned with denatured alcohol.

The same will happen with the copper, varigated, maybe, but it's a different composition than silver and copper.
Danny

[Billy Pickett]

...The "correct" way is to use 12 karat white gold instead of silver.

[Bobbie Rochow]

Sorry to ask, I was afraid there may have been information posted on this, but didn't run the search with the correct words!

Thank you so much for the tips everyone. I think i will skip over to the shellac info & re-read it.

[Danny Baronian]

Bobbie,

no need to apologize, if we all knew the answers this forum wouldn't be here, and the only way you'll understand what the 'correct' way is with a proper explanation.

Silver leaf will probably tarnish over time reglardles of what you do. If you have silver leaf, put it in a box and vacuum seal it if you can, it will tarnish with exposure to air.

What is generally used for silver is 12k white gold which looks like silver, but with enough gold content to prevent tarnishing.

The way to leaf the glue chip is by water gilding. One shot will give a matt finish which is generally not done over glue chipped areas.

On the project you describe you can do one of two things, either let it continue to tarnish and let them know it's your process of antiquing , or carefully remove the one shot, coating it with shellac then backing up. I'd opt for the former and start something new.

If you have any other questions, do a search using various words on the subject. If that doesn't help, feel free to ask.

Danny

[Bobbie Rochow]

Thank you so much Danny. You know what? I think I will go right ahead & make a new one, & just figure this is part of experience...learning! I think the next one will turn out better anyway!

Now as far as me using my varigated leaf & my copper leaf, can I use it with quick size, only maybe use shellac in between layers of work to seal it, & maybe the shellac will keep it safe?

And one very important question, ok? On the shellac info, Rick had mentioned using the dry shellac & mixing it because the ready mixed can be cloudy for mirroring. I have not mirrored anything yet, to know what he was talking about, but in my case for gilding, & sealing my reverse paints & metal leafs, would that stuff be ok to use, the ready-mixed liquid shellac? I can drive really close to get some real easy instead of having to order it & having it shipped. My finances are very limited at the time (business is sloooow) , & I want to try it, but not at the cost of ruining another project!

[Danny Baronian]

Bobbie,

use whatever shellac is available. You will not see any clouding since the the use of shellac in your case is used only as a barrier, behind some type of treatment. Spray shellac can also be used as either a back up or over all, but only do a mist coat on clear areas, as will create a slight texture from the spray can.

Quick size, variegated and copper leaf, followed with clear or amber shellac can be backed up with anything after that. It sounds like you read through Ricks notes on shellace, he could never say enough about it. It's something that has many uses, yet removed only with denatured alcohol.

On the next project, take some pictures and post for us to see.

Danny

[Larry White]

I like to back my silver with asphaltum. But then the majority of my silver work is via solution silvering. When I want a silver look, but am forced to use leaf, I use the affore mentioned 12K gold. I typically back the 12K with a 50/50 mix of white and ochre decor screen ink back-up. With this, the excess leaf can be removed with the brush method. I would be leery of removing the excess gold with the brush if backed in asphaltum. In mirroring, the excess silver is removed chemically and the asphaltum with stands that quite readily.

I've got a few new interesting process knawing at me that I'm going to try. I'll photograph them, and if they work, I'll post a step-by-step.

[Bobbie Rochow]

Here is my first attempt at reverse painting. The paint part seemed to come out ok, but I know now after this post that the silver will go, & of course the whole panel! Silver leafed with varigated leaf & abalone "double backed up" with back up black. It will be sad to see it go, I really did like it!

[Larry White]

Tarnish adds character.

[Bobbie Rochow]

Thank you Larry!

Hey, will it turn toally black or something? What do you suppose this will look like anyway?

[Bobbie Rochow]

Wow!!! I just thought of something VERY important!!!! I am using One Shot with hardener in it for the outlines on my glass....even tho I put a barrier layer of shellac on ,my work, if I am using One Shot as an outline, will this tarnish it anyway because it has contact with the edges of my leafs? Should I use something else?

[Doug Bernhardt]

As I recall, many years back, Kingcole black was used to back-up almost everything, including silver. I do recall the Boss describing it as a mixture of Japan and Quick rubbing. I also am one of those in the habit of backing silver (solution) in chipped areas with one-shot (imitation silver) with hardner in it. I've just seen too many of my pieces with an unsightly black spot in the deepest spots of a chip show through. Have also seen same with asphaltum and wondered how everyone, other than me, manages to have no problems regardless of how heavy my deposit is. Wouldn't think of using the One-shot mixture to bright line however.

[Kent Smith]

A couple of other thoughts. Silver leaf is thicker and somewhat more brittle than gold and does not lay down on the chip well. It is therefore possible to contaminate the leaf more through the fissures. Most enamels have a good portion of mineral spirits in them as a tail solvent. Common mineral spirits contains a fair amount of sulfur which will tarnish the silver immediately as well as the copper and silver compounds in gold leaf. Dekor and the backing paints as well as asphaltum are compounded in naphtha which has no sulfur. As a matter of interest, the high temp reducers are naphtha compound based and of course, there should be no sulfur in real turpentine. The aqua regia process, angel gilding or solution silvering is preferrable on uneven surfaces such as chipped or interrupted acid etch. As another note, do not use blue as a backup as it has even higher concentrations of sulfur.

I find that with the improved tinning solution as well as the three part silver that Sarah has, the deposition is far superior and you have little trouble with holidays through which your backing paint would appear.

[Sarah King]

Hey Thanks Kent! I was wondering how your project was going. And thanks for the note on the sulfur content of mineral spirits versus naptha. A very useful thing to know.

[Kent Smith]

You are welcome Sarah, I am well into the 6th piece and right on target.