Silver Plater

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In Conservation DistList Instance: 19:24 Thursday, November 3, 2005,
Dominique Rogers <do [at] pepin__demon__co__uk>

>Has anybody heard of and used of a product called "Silver Plater"?
>The bumpf reads:
>
>   "Silver Plater is a liquid that actually contains silver. It adds
>    a fine layer of silver to your precious silver pieces whilst you
>    polish (...Blah, blah). By a process known as molecular plating,
>    Silver Plater plates surfaces with a layer of pure silver during
>    polishing"

This was manufactured some years ago (1980s) by a firm called
Sheffco. and it uses a chemical electro-deposition method of
depositing silver on suitable clean metal surfaces.  You can also
build up layers but each layer is extremely thin so that after 25
applications you will only have a layer about 0.3 microns thick!
Once it tarnishes and is cleaned with a rouge-based silver polish
the layer is often partly or totally removed and needs
re-application.

Whether its chemical technology has advanced since I used it I am
not sure.

Simon Moore, MIScT, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences
Hampshire County Council
Recreation and Heritage Department
Museums and Archives Service
Chilcomb House, Chilcomb Lane
Winchester SO23 8RD
UK
+44 1962 826737


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 20:1
                  Distributed: Saturday, June 24, 2006
                        Message Id: cdl-20-1-008
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