Giving Turquoise Beads a Coke Bath

[laurellanestudios]

My turqoise beads turned out a little tarnished looking (for lack of a better word). Didn't I read that soaking them in Coke will clean them off?

They've been soaking for two hours with no change...how long should I expect this to take?

Thanks,
Kathy

[dogmaw]

What I do is give them a quick dip in etch bath (about 2 seconds) then rub it off right away. That takes the tarnish off without etching the bead.

[kimberly]

I sometimes have to soak them overnight. Be sure it is The "Real Thing" not Diet Coke.

[Tanya]

I sometimes have to soak them overnight. Be sure it is The "Real Thing" not Diet Coke.

Yeah, Diet Coke doesn't work! Sometimes I have success with Coke, sometimes not. Perhaps I don't always soak them long enough.

[Jena]

Just wanted to add, I have used diet coke to clean up dirty-looking turquoise and copper green beads before. Only because there's usually no real coke at my house, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I run out of diet coke.:grin: It does work, but it's a real p.i.t.a. It has to be completely flat before the beads go in, and even then it can take a couple of days to get all the gunky stuff off. Not a "quick fix" by any means. I'm sure the real coke would work much faster.

[Tanya]

That's good to know because the only coke we keep in the house is the mini bottles I bought for soaking beads in. Lots of diet, though.

[laurellanestudios]

Update...it's been nearly four hours and the beads are looking better.

Yes, I'm using "real" Coke. Ironically, we never drink soda but have some leftover from a party two weeks ago. Now, what can I do with an open liter of Sprite and orange soda?!

Thanks again.

[kimberly]

Just wanted to add, I have used diet coke to clean up dirty-looking turquoise and copper green beads before. Only because there's usually no real coke at my house, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I run out of diet coke.:grin: It does work, but it's a real p.i.t.a. It has to be completely flat before the beads go in, and even then it can take a couple of days to get all the gunky stuff off. Not a "quick fix" by any means. I'm sure the real coke would work much faster.

Good to know!!

[GinnyHampton]

What I do is give them a quick dip in etch bath (about 2 seconds) then rub it off right away. That takes the tarnish off without etching the bead.


Yup, this is what I do! Or, I "spot etch" with a small q-tip dipped in etch solution if I have just a little spot that needs to be cleaned.

[Tanya]

That's good to know too!

[Kalera]

I keep a bottle of Coke in my fridge just for this; it's nasty and flat and old, and I had to put a special label on it to keep people from throwing it away.

I find that it works best at room temperature or above, and takes several hours but is a nice easy low-involvement way of getting them bright.

[Kevan]

I have soaked beads in every kind of bubbly soft drink imaginable for up to 2 days and not had it do a single freaking thing ever to anything.

That said, I'm thinking of trying denture cleaner tablets. I don't have any of these so I would have to buy some to try it out. Has anyone else tried that?

[Starrr]

Toilet bowl cleaner will work so much faster, but you still need to "roll" them around. "WINK" is supposed to work well, but I just use regular toliet bowl cleaner, and then pour it into the toilet, sans beads, soak, flush, you get clean beads and a clean toilet!

[Full Circle]

Toilet bowl cleaner is the only thing that works, every time, and works FAST without the risk of accidently etching your beads in etching solution. I've tried different brands and the ONLY one that works REALLY fast and GREAT is The Works!

It'll take the "tarnish" off those turquoise beads in moments. I use it ALL the time!!!!!!!!!! I used to be afraid to use certain colors because they would get "tarnished", not any more my friends use whatever colors you want the shit comes off!!!!

[laurellanestudios]

Straight from the bottle toilet bowl cleaner or do you dilute with water?

Boy, clean beads AND a clean toilet. Now THAT's multi-tasking!

[Full Circle]

Straight from the bottle. I dump a bunch into a used salsa jar and then just keep resusing it. I add a bit to it every once in awhile. I also use rubber gloves, and I'm not a glove girls, but this stuff BURNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't drip it onto stainless steel and leave it either, cuz it takes the finish right off!!!

I'm not kidding about this stuff....I will clean ANYTHING!!!!

[Lisi]

Toilet bowl cleaner is the only thing that works, every time, and works FAST without the risk of accidently etching your beads in etching solution. I've tried different brands and the ONLY one that works REALLY fast and GREAT is The Works!

It'll take the "tarnish" off those turquoise beads in moments. I use it ALL the time!!!!!!!!!! I used to be afraid to use certain colors because they would get "tarnished", not any more my friends use whatever colors you want the shit comes off!!!!

Thanks Cindy!

I use Sno Bol, diluted 2 parts to 1 part water, but if The Works works (lol!) it's nice to know about another brand! :)

How long do you leave your beads in it? I leave mine in for 20-30 minutes, and the reason I dilute it is fear, I guess! Of etching them a little, hehe.

[Full Circle]

5-10 minutes, I've left longer with no trouble, but I have the same fear!!!

[Patch]

I use CLR which is supposed to remove rust, calcium and lime. It work great in about an hour. Coke never worked for me.

[Deepwood Art]

I use Whink and it works great. For turquoise all you need is a quick dip and a quick rub (with a gloved hand), and rinse. No longer than a couple of seconds, or you'll dull your turq. Copper green is a tad more forgiving. You can just squirt some Whink in a dixie cup and swish your copper green beads around in the cup and you'll see all this gunk lift off of the bead. I've used coke and diet coke (it's the phosphoric acid in the soda that removes the "rust"), flat and unflat and they've all worked, but it takes time... a couple of days for me, in most cases. With Whink it takes just a few seconds.

Fran