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Silver plating solution

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I have a problem about silver plating. I used a solution came from a certain book, a solution of silver chloride, cyanide, and distilled water. The reaction upon plating an item is ok but the finished result of the thoroughly polished item becomes dull or not shiny . I wonder about brightener? May anyone knows answer my problems in siverplating? I am a Jr. goldsmith and have a small jewelry repair shop.

John Mary Chiong
Jewelry repair shop - Cagayan de oro city, Philippines

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If the substrate metal is fully polished before plating and cleaned well, the silver plating should reflect the brightness of the substrate metal, unless you are plating a heavy silver thickness. Most silver plating solutions that contain free cyanide also contain potassium silver cyanide to supply the silver metal in the solution. I'm not familiar with silver chloride used with free cyanide. There is a good decorative silver bath called Technic Silver E, a full bright silver. Technic can set you up with the proper formulation and the brightener to make your life much easier. Good technical support helps too! Good Luck!

Mark Baker
Process Engineer - Syracuse, New York

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