Letter 14623

Qwicksilver

Electrolytic Silver Cleaning Plate

Are you familiar with Qwicksilver TM ? It is a self acting electrolytic cleaning plate -- imported from England -- that I have purchased from Antique shows? I am in need of some new ones and cannot seem to find them ! Are you familiar with either a comparable product or.......something else that cleans silver "like magic"......without rubbing and for large objects? PLEASE HELP! Thanks! Zoraida Fiol-Silva, M.D. - Pomona, New Jersey Hi, Zoraida. You may also wish to see letter 4785, which explains the chemistry. Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

^--Browse silver cleaning plates on ebay

Help,

Where can I buy Qwicksilver ^TM cleaning plate. I used a friend's and it is terrific. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Diana Henry Mann
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Qwicksilver plates are available by writing QWICKSILVER P. O. Box 2118 Bristol, TN 37621

Ginny Mullendore
- Madison, MS, USA

I have purchased a Qwicksilver Plate and on the instruction it does not say what kind of sink or container to use when cleaning. We have a stainless sink and want to know if it would be okay to use it to clean the silver pieces we have or do we need to use a non metallic receptacle. It says not to mix other metals with the silver pieces when cleaning.

Thank You,

Sal Seidita
Hobbyist - Kingston , New York, USA

About 7 years ago I called Quicksilver to order more reaction agent, and the person on the phone told me to use Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda [link is to product info at Amazon]. He told me it's a lot cheaper, and it's basically the same stuff.

It's been working fine for us.

We recently installed a black enamel sink, replacing our stainless steel one. I am now using a 3 gallon stainless steel lobster pot.

William Olson
- Holland, PA, USA

Qwicksilver is a trademarked and internationally patented product. You can buy it for delivery worldwide.

Brian Morris
Qwicksilver Inc - Cape Town, South Africa

I purchased a Qwicksilver plate about ten years ago. Today when I used it, some silver pieces were cleaned effectively. Others were not. I tried a second time on these items with no better results. Also, the plate is now very gray/brown in color--not silver. I tried to clean it as indicated on the envelope slip that the plate is stored in with no results. What do I do now to restore it and why were some things not cleaned?

Beatrice L. Wallace
collector - Hemlock, MI, USA

From the description you give your Qwicksilver plate is almost totally corroded with the residue of old tarnish. Tarnish must be washed off the plate immediately after cleaning (as the instructions clearly state) or it will eventually become inert. It is surprising you were able to clean ANY silver. After ten years perhaps you should buy another one. Contact Qwicksilver.

Brian Morris
Qwicksilver Inc - Cape Town

I just used a "Quicksilver" electrolytic plate that I found to clean some silver and it works quite well with WASHING soda. An internet search turned up info that the "secret" is the plate is simple aluminum and one can get the same reaction using ALUMINUM FOIL, WASHING SODA, and Boiling or Hot water. Much cheaper!

Richard Heppert
- Kingsport, TN, United States

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Ed. note: For more about electrolytic cleaning of silver, please see letters: 16626, 18126, 19396, 19814, and 34314.

This old wives' tale again. Clean with aluminium foil and you'll strip your silver plating. Sure it produces electrolytic action, so does salt and a tin can. Electrolytic action needs to be controlled, which is why the Qwicksilver plate has an international patent.

Brian Morris
Qwicksilver International Inc - Cape Town, South Africa

I came to this site to find out where I could obtain another one of these plates; I have one and it is fine. For an activator I have always used Calgon water softener, but Arm & Hammer Washing Soda is also fine. I have made a note of the supplier in Tennessee and will follow it up.

Jewell Margaret Clark
Retired - Surrey, B. C., Canada

One of course CAN use a commercial cleaning plate IF one can find one without spending a arm or a leg.

In simple terms here is what is going on. Sulfer likes to bond to Silver (oxidize/tarnish) and will do so naturally over a period of time. You CAN polish it away, but you WILL remove some of the silver in doing so.

Sulfer also likes to bond with Aluminum MORE than it does silver, and given the chance, will move. So . . . getting a "tarnished" piece of silver in direct contact with ANY piece of aluminum (plate, pot, foil) with the catalyst of HOT water and WASHING soda (look for Arm&Hammer) sets up the proper environment for this transfer.

Once the item looks clean remove and completely rinse and wipe down or residue will result.

As the water cools, the reaction will slow and stop, so start with the hottest. Washing and Baking soda are NOT the same chemically. Baking will work, but Washing Soda will work Better.

Richard Heppert
- Kingsport, TN, United States

Is there to anyone's knowledge a Canadian source for Qwicksilver.

Archie Callaby
Collector - Windsor, Ontario, Canada

May 29, 2007 I too love this product. I was able to locate it on-line at www.iKitchen.com for around $15.00. Type in Jewelry cleaner in the search field. Autumn Broadway - Valley Center, CA September 2, 2008 I want to market this product on my website as an entire kit. May I have input from you regarding this. Thank you. PS: Web site not up and running yet - depending on whether this is do-able. Thank you. Karen Olson Seller - Highland, New York September 5, 2008 Hi, Karen. In this age of a world economy, we often get a dozen or more requests per day just from sellers in India and China to post their sites. So we can't post offers to sell if you had your site up anyway. But why not list on eBay or Amazon, where people already are, instead of trying to draw them to your own site? Good luck. Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

Click the pic to see Museum Silver Cleaning plate at Hammacher Schlemmer . . .   Get the Qwicksilver activator from Hammacher Schlemmer . . .

I have had my plate for 20 years or more. I love it!!! I collect sterling miniatures, and I would never be able to enjoy them without Qwicksilver!

Regular old baking soda works for me. Find it, buy it, LOVE IT!

Barbie

Barbie Rench
- Racine, WI