I put the hot, mashed-up eggs at the bottom of a glass jar, loosely crumble a paper towel and put it on top of the eggs to keep the silver from directly contacting the eggs. Then I drop the jewelry on top and tighten the lid. And then wait, check, wait, check, etc. until I get the degree of darkening I want.

To reverse this process and remove tarnish, make a bath / solution of very hot water and a few tablespoons of baking soda. Pour it into a ceramic or glass bowl lined with aluminum foil (non-treated side up). Drop in your silver, making sure it touches the aluminum. Wait a few minutes, stirring gently if you’re impatient. Sulfur is more attracted to aluminum than to silver, so it will leave the silver and re-attach to the foil. If you smell rotten eggs, it’s working.

However, when you darken silver with eggs, you are NOT oxidizing the silver. You are tarnishing it with sulfur.

“Oxidizing” means treating or affecting with oxygen. Rather, you are using sulfur fumes to create silver sulfide (i.e., tarnish). The eggs release sulfur fumes, which is where that rotten egg smell comes from, and the sulfur fumes interact with the silver to create silver sulfide.

Anything with sulfur will darken silver: mayonnaise, vulcanized rubber, most raw seafood, raw chicken liver and heart, fertilizer, many household cleaning products

If you actually want to oxidize silver, jump in a heavily chlorinated pool while wearing your jewelry. The reaction will typically be pretty fast.

Interesting fact: Another name for sulfur is “brimstone.”

JO, thank you so much for joining in! I’ll enjoy seeing the jewelry you create. 🙂

Gaylan, thank you for your lovely comment. We’re so glad you found us! 🙂

Hi Sangelia, thanks for asking. When the patina is finished and dry, I seal the patina using a clear spray lacquer. Apply at least three light coats of lacquer on every patina surface of the metal, drying each coat thoroughly before applying the next coat. I use a clear, matte-finish, spray-on sealant called “Tree House Studio” Clear Acrylic Matte Coating, from Hobby Lobby. Krylon also has a product that’s pretty much the same thing, and about the same price.

I have not used resin for this, so I have no idea how it may work (or not work) for sealing.

Edna, Thank you for your lovely message! 🙂

Hi Sandy, the only time I oxidize jewelry that has a gemstone is when I wouldn’t be upset if the stone was damaged or altered due to the oxidizing procedure.

That’s interesting, Brandi! I can certainly see how the oxidizing would be on the part of the rings that had contact with the eggs. Thanks for writing in to share your experience with this! 🙂

Hi Lou, that’s interesting! I’m not enough of a metal scientist to answer your question – although I’m guessing the copper may have had something to do with it. 🙂

Cindy, I’m so glad to hear the egg-and-polishing method restored the oxidation on your special jewelry!

Whenever you wonder whether a technique will work with a particular type of component, here’s the best thing to do:

First do a test run on a small scrap or sample of your component. Then you can see how the technique will (or won’t) work on the sample, without ruining your actual piece. Another benefit of doing the test run on a scrap first – you’ll probably discover some things about the technique that will help you get better results when you do the technique on your actual component!

If you do experiment with a crystal / Herkimer diamond, please let us know how it turns out!

Hi Virginia, here’s an effective way to remove oxidation from silver:
Clean Tarnished Silver Jewelry

Before using it on vintage or expensive pieces, or pieces with gemstones, check with a jewelry store or other expert to make sure the piece you want to clean is compatible with this cleaning method.

Thanks for sharing your story, Brian! 🙂 And please let me know how your spurs turn out!

Hi Lalo, I would take the ring back to the person or store where the ring was purchased, and tell them what happened. They should make amends or have the oxidization process re-done for you.

Hi KarenJ, thanks for sharing that interesting tip! I’ve never heard of the banana oxidizing method before – I’ll have to experiment with that sometime! And it may be possible that heat would accelerate the process – it seems to with the egg method.

Hi Christine, thanks for asking! I have never experimented with that. The best way to find out is to test it out on a small piece of your wire (that you wouldn’t mind if it got messed up) – and see what happens. If you do experiment with that, I would love to hear how it turns out! 🙂

Thank you for your lovely compliment, Maria! I’ll be interested to hear about your results with the boiled egg method!

Yay! Thanks for letting me know, Milina! 🙂

Great tutorial, Thank you!

That’s fantastic to hear, Gabrielle! So glad it worked for you and that your ring is better than ever with the darkening! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂

It worked! I used 2 organic eggs (not sure if it made difference, but mentioning it just in case) and boiled them for about 25-30 minutes, then followed the instructions and put my ring in the bag. After a couple of minutes I already could see the results! I left my ring in the eggs for 1 1/2 hrs and now it looks amazing! The underside without carving became blotchy hematite-like and the upper part with carving got coppery tint in the deep parts and nicely oxidized into dark silver on the elevated parts (now of course I’m questioning whether the ring was pure 925 silver as it says, since I got an unexpected copper tone, but I don’t really care-it’s gorgeous nevertheless!! Perhaps even better than I was hoping for :)) Thank you so much! Now it looks as if I’m wearing a piece I’d inherited from Renaissance time, hehe! Will try this method with some other jewelry, as well.

P.S. Forgot to mention that now the three white topazes I have on my ring can be finally visible- before everything was just blended together in a shiny mess: P So, it works on a jewelry with stones, as well.

Hi Gabrielle, thanks for asking! Yes, the egg oxidizing method should work on a thick, detailed sterling silver ring. And to make the ring’s details stand out better after oxidizing, you can use a polishing cloth to rub the darkness off the higher parts of the ring, leaving the lower areas dark. If you decide to try it, please let me know how it turns out for you!

Thanks so much for sharing that info, Kelly! That’s a great kitchen science tip that I think could definitely apply to this procedure.

Thanks
Tim

Hi T,
I don’t always lacquer the jewelry that I’ve oxidized or patinated, but when I do, I’ve had good results with “Tree House Studio” Clear Acrylic Matte Coating, from Hobby Lobby. Krylon also has a product that’s pretty much the same thing, and about the same price ($5 – $6).

I use a clear, matte-finish spray lacquer to seal the patina / oxidizing – three light coats of lacquer on every surface of the metal, drying each coat thoroughly before applying the next coat.

I have had very good results and patina / oxidizing durability using this method.

About separating the eggs from the metal – I usually put my metal piece in the center of the bag, with the crushed eggs all the way around it – some touching the metal, some not. You could experiment with keeping all the egg fragments off your metal and see if you like the effect. If you don’t get the dark result you want, you can always do the process again, with a second batch of eggs to get more color / darkening.

Hi Shannon,
Anything marked “stainless” means it’s been treated to be resistant to discoloration. So you may find it doesn’t oxidize at all, or it may take much longer exposed to the eggs to bring any color.

I think the only way to see what will happen is to test it on whatever pieces you have.

Alicia
JMJ Content & Social Media Specialist

Hi Jennifer, the uneven results may be from the eggs touching your metal during the process, or your metal may have had some sort of varnish, finish, or oil on it (even skin oils from handling it) that resisted the oxidizing. That could also account for the way it wiped off easily after the process. I don’t know what caused this issue for you, but one of the most important things is to start with metal that has no finish on it, and then clean / degrease it thoroughly before starting any patina or oxidizing procedure.

I hope this helps! 🙂

Hi Jackie,
I can take this one. 🙂

The oxidation that happens with bleach tends to not be stable. So it’s very possible and likely that if you sell pieces that you’ve oxidized perfectly with the bleach technique they won’t stay that perfect color for long.

LOS (liver of sulphur) and the egg method will give a more reliable result.

You can experiment with the egg method. Rena smooshed up the egg and put it in a baggie with her chain but you can also simply cut a boiled egg in half and seal both halves inside an airtight container with your jewelry so the egg is not touching the jewelry. Oxidation can happen faster on the spots where the egg touches the metal. Depending on your piece, it might cause an uneven look.

If you can break up the egg yolks but not have them touch the jewelry that tends to speed up the process.

Alicia
JMJ Content & Social Media

I do have a problem though, i have recently put my sterling silver jewellery in a jewellery cleaner, and it has wiped all the silver off it , it looks stripped and dull. Have i done something wrong? Do you have any ideas how i could get it back to its original state?
:)thanks

However, I recommend that you always do a test first with a small stone or bead you wouldn’t mind messing up if it turned out to not be OK with the egg technique.

Thereza, I don’t personally have experience with cleaning zinc alloys – but if you do a google search, you’ll find several sites that have info about that. Best of luck with your new business! 🙂

Ilove your tips on jewellery! I have just started my own business here in South Africa. I am hoping you can tell me how to clean zinc alloy bangles?

I look forward hearing from you.

Kind regards

Thereza

Have a great week!
Susie @bowdabra