Thursday, September 3, 2009

OMG! Have You eVeR Worked with Liver of Sulphur?

I actually read directions for using liver of sulphur several times. I also checked 3 different sources for directions. I followed safety precautions by using good ventilation. I was, and I emphasize was a liver of sulphur virgin, that is, until today. I thought I knew what to expect, but, guess what, I didn't! OMG! The smell was rank. I think I've smelled rotten eggs that smelled better than LOS. I'm getting a headache just thinking about the smell now. Then, I dipped my copper charms into the solution, and I couldn't believe what happened within seconds!
What happened to my pretty copper charms? ( I now understand why the directions said to use a small piece of LOS. I thought the chunk I used was small, but, I guess, it wasn't small enough!)

After my initial panic, I began to clean the copper using the directions I had read. I used my steel wool. I also tried a bit of CLR mixed with water, but don't tell anyone! I should have used more CLR, but, like I said, I was a liver of sulphur virgin at that time.
Batch one is a little darker than I would have liked, even with the intense cleaning I did, but as I look at them now, the charms don't look terribly ugly!
With Batch 2, I used a teeny, tiny piece of LOS. I liked the results a lot better. Clean up was easier, too.

Lesson for today:

When using liver of sulphur, think small, very, very small.

Also, don't try to patina as many pieces as I did. You can work faster.

Go to the hardware store and buy a metal brush.

This can only get better!

4 comments:

Manuela said...

Teheeeee..... know what? I am using it wiht my pmc pieces and clean it every time because I don´t reallly like LOS, but there are a lot of people loving it :-).
And the smell is terrific. The first time I have used it at home and my DH came home he was not very amused LOL.
Have fun Sweetie and thanks for visiting me,
xoxox
Manuela
P. S. Hope you feel better?

Samma said...

It is some stinky stuff for sure....P...U...! I use a piece about the size of a BB in about 1 cup of water, put it on a wire, dip, count to three and pull it out, wipe it off. Repeat until you get your desired patina. Clothes pin on the nose ;-DDD Samma

Unknown said...

how fun! think this will take up enough of your time to warrant the purchase of a ventilation mask? sounds like it smells terrible!

Patty said...

Mallory, your charms look great! Yeah, a little goes a long way, huh? My DH always gives me "the look" when he comes in the kitchen when I'm applying patina.

Can't wait to see what you do with your charms.