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 Post subject: Tarnish on moonstone beads
PostPosted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 5:47 pm 
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Hi,
I am repairing a clients moonstone bead necklace. The moonstones have "tarnish" from the beading wire in the drill holes. I have tried warm soapy water, which didn't work. Any suggestions?
Thanks so much.


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 Post subject: Re: Tarnish on moonstone beads
PostPosted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 5:53 pm 
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Location: San Francisco
To begin with, Rachel, we have moved your post out of the section entitled "Forum Disclaimers"
Please be more careful when choosing where to post.

To answer your question, I would try a Sunshine Cloth for the areas around the drill holes.
One needs an abrasive with a hardness greater than the metal and softer than the feldspar.
To remove tarnish within the drill holes, I suspect you would need to get inside every drill hole with an abrasive....a reamer of sorts.

Does anyone have any ideas about a "dip" which might work?


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 Post subject: Re: Tarnish on moonstone beads
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 12:25 am 
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Thanks Barbara, I had very good success with a diamond bit reammer. it was not quite thin enough to reach the very centre of the beads but it was a huge improvement!


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 Post subject: Re: Tarnish on moonstone beads
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 4:07 pm 
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Probably a bit late now, but I have had great success with a bamboo slip (which will split down really fine) then charge it with toothpaste or other mild abrasive and use the flex drive to spin it inside the hole. A run through the ultrasonic then cleans everything out. When restringing the necklace, use the nylon coated wire. A little more expensive but doesn't mark the inside of beads.


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