Malachite shine
Mr. Vega
look particularly shiny. I find that rubbing it on my skin, makes it
look shiny for about 5 hours from the natural oils, but I've heard
that this may impact the appearance of the stone by making the bands
disappear over time.
I'm wondering what sort of wax and other implements are normally used
to polish malachite, so it has a more permament shine, and which
doesn't impact the appearance of the stone.
Thanks,
Jack
Bart Z. Lederman
will take and hold a polish.
Because it's soft, and because rings are subject to a lot of
wear, I would not expect any polish to last very long on
a malachite ring.
There are cloths you can get in stores that are made for polishing
jewlery that generally have some rouge in them. Normally, you
wouldn't want to bring one of those anywhere near a good piece
of jewelry, but I've found that it will polish malachite and
related minerals fairly well. Some of those polishing cloths
don't actually look like they have rouge in them (the ones I
saw were yellow, not brown).
--
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Li
cutting and polishing malachite. It works very nicely.
Liz
"Mr. Vega" <je...@gtn.net> wrote in message
news:cqfvn0ls73b71ko8c...@4ax.com...
Andrew Werby
[Gemstones aren't polished like cars, Jack. Their polish comes from the
application of succesively fine abrasive grits, and isn't (or at least
shouldn't be) dependant on a covering of wax or varnish. Malachite is a
relatively soft stone, and its surface is subject to scratching, if it's
worn in an exposed situation, such as in a ring. These scratches will
obscure the originally polished surface of the stone - this seems to be the
case with your internet purchase. The solution would be to take your ring to
a repair jeweler, who could replace the stone for you - malachite cabochons
aren't expensive, and this would usually be more cost-effective than having
it repolished. Or you might try returning it to the seller for a refund.]
Andrew Werby
www.unitedartworks.com
Mr. Vega
news:<7th0o014tstgkatsk...@4ax.com>...
> I use Zam on a flannel buff to put a final high gloss shine when I am
> cutting and polishing malachite. It works very nicely.
> Liz
Thanks for your help, and to the others who responded. I'll look into
these suggestions.
Thanks,
Jack
rco...@takeoutmindspring.com
Malachite is a beautiful stone, but it is extremely soft. Really too
soft for jewelry and I think it suffers from exposure to the air. But
it's so pretty we go ahead and use it anyway.
Periodically I take my wife's malachite pieces out in the shop and
buff them on a loose flannel wheel charged with Zam.
--RC
If I weren't interested in gardening and Ireland,
I'd automatically killfile any messages mentioning
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Mr. Vega
news:<0th0o015ic6rk60ot...@4ax.com>...
...
> There are cloths you can get in stores that are made for polishing
> jewlery that generally have some rouge in them.
Is this the same thing as a "sunshine cloth"? What sort of store would carry them?
Thanks,
Jack
Bart Z. Lederman
Where I've seen these "jewelry polishing" cloths are stores like
Target, Bradleys, KMart, WalMart, probably Macys and Pennys, and other
general goods stores. It's possible that retail jewelry stores
in malls would have them, but as I said, you really shouldn't use
them on good jewelry.
Peter W.. Rowe,
lede...@star.enet.dec.DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL.com (Bart Z. Lederman) wrote:
>>I haven't heard of a "sunshine" cloth.
>>
Those particular ones are one of several brands of cloths (Blitz is another) that are
constructed much like the older traditional rouge cloths, but use instead of rouge, a
colorless silica (I think) based micro abrasive as the polishing agent. They're
actually very effective at removing light tarnish and putting a nich reasonably high
shine on softer metals such as yellow gold and silver. Slightly less effective on
platinum or white gold, but still better than nothing. Generallly, such cloths have
an outer and inner layer. The inner layer, usually yellow in color (though some of
the Blitz brand are light grey, I think) has the polishing agent, and the outer layer
is just flannel. You buff things up with the inner layer, then wipe it clean, if
desired, with the outer cloth. They are somewhat faster and more effective than
tradional rouge cloths, don't leave a reddish residue on things (the rouge itself.
harmless to the jewelry, but it can make a mess of clothing and hands, and then may
need to be cleaned off the jewelry too.) And, they seem to leave a bit or residual
anti tarnish agent on the metal, useful with silver and base metals.
>>Where I've seen these "jewelry polishing" cloths are stores like
>>Target, Bradleys, KMart, WalMart, probably Macys and Pennys, and other
>>general goods stores. It's possible that retail jewelry stores
>>in malls would have them, but as I said, you really shouldn't use
>>them on good jewelry.
I'm a little curious as to your suggestion that these not be used on good jewelry.
Rouge cloths may not be fast or always effective if the metal is scratched, instead
of just slightly dulled or tarnished, but they don't damage the metal in any way i
can think of, unless the surface has some softer finish like a brushed look, where
you might not want a bright polish instead. And I can think of very few stones that
would be affected by rouge as well. Amber, maybe, if it got "scoured" into the
surface, which might then take a bit more cleaning effort. But rouge on a flannel or
muslin buff (on a buffing motor) is one of the most common ways fine jewelry gets
it's final high polish. The only caution I can think of that would agree with your
statement is that carelessly vigorous use of a rouge cloth by someone not aware of
the risk to lighter weight prongs or fine wire details, might snag and bend them,
perhaps loosening stones. Other than that, and even that is easily avoided, what is
your objection to them? They're pretty gentle, all in all...
Peter Rowe
Bart Z. Lederman
general use: or at least, that's what I thought of them. I really
haven't used them much. I did find, in a sort-of-emergency situation
(or really, just in a hurry and didn't want to wait for delivery
of something better) that I could cut a circle from one, put it on
a wheel, and get a good polish on malachite. In a way, it's easier
than getting a buff or fabric circle and loading it with polishing
compound, as the polish is built in.
If you've had good results with them, then they may well be more
useful than I had previously thought. I would expect silica to
be much more agressive on metal than rouge, though.
I keep having images of the general public getting these cloths,
rubbing their plated jewlery with them rather aggressivly, and
ending up with something with some of the plating missing and
rouge in the crevices. You could say that anyone who buys
jewelry with very thin plating on it deserves what they get,
but if they like the way it looks and don't want to spend a lot
of money they should get reasonable use out of it.