Liquid Silver Plating Kit

My elderly Mom, God Bless her sweet soul, soaked a solid sterling silver Byzantine necklace and bracelet we gifted her a few years ago in a solution of bleach and water. Not only did she use this abrasive solution one should never use on precious metals, but she forgot about it and it soaked for a few days.Needless to say the jewelry was damaged. The platinum coating that these pieces were coated in had been eaten away and the pieces were akin to black rough metal.Before ordering this silver plating kit I did spend time with an anti tarnish product. It removed most of the black but I was left with what I think is mostly the base metal of silver. It was better then before but still not wearable.Now comes this amazing Liquid Silver Plating system and the results are incredible!First, the kit came with just about everything you need. I liked the fact that protective rubber gloves were included along with applicator sponge and soft paper (thicker than paper towel) polishing cloth.With just the first wipe I could see I'd have success with the plating adhering to the jewelry. Even with the intricacies of a chain with so many tiny crevices, the easy to apply lotion used with the enclosed sponge covered all the base dull metal. I did continue to polish after application which really brought out a decent shine and luster.I've posted photos as it's the only way to truly relay just how great this product performs.

I used Liquid Silver to repair an antique silverplated coffee urn and it really works. I suggest you first wash the item in warm, soapy water (not silver polish) and dry it thoroughly. Then apply the liquid and rub it in. Use the soft cloth provided to polish it dry. You may have to do two or three applications if the plating is really worn away, down to the base metal.This works on very good quality silverplate - meaning plating over copper, brass or nickel. Don't think if you have a lesser quality base metal, that ANY hand applied plating system, such as this, would work - it just won't. (In that case, you need the professional acid applied system. If the silver plate is chipped or broken, most probably that item has the acid dipped method of plating, and means the base metal is not copper, brass or nickel.)If you have the right base metal, this will work and can save you the cost of this product many times over. It is meant for silverplate that is thin or worn... not deeply scratched, chipped or broken. I read some of the negative reviews, and they were all cases where the damage was so severe that only the professional system of plating would work. Of course, this is a very reasonably priced system, so it's worth trying even on the most damaged item - but it simply isn't meant for that.So.... I would say if you have worn flatware, trays, or other silverplated objects that have no actual physical damage such as gouges, chips or breaks in the silverplate - this is the perfect item for you! My coffee urn looks great and I am rummaging around my house looking for other pieces to restore.This is also an excellent silver polish, and will KEEP your items looking great, as it lays down a thin coat of silver with each polish application. I really like this stuff a lot!

I was able to use this kit to apply a corrosion resistant finish to some brass pieces, after some false starts that showed problems I had to figure out. The Liquid Silver product uses rubbing action to generate the electrical potential that bonds the silver to the base metal. It takes very little unevenness of the surface to defeat the effectiveness of the rubbing action. Any unevenness will result in the silver gobbing on the high spots and not bonding to the low spots. The effective surface prep consisted of sanding the surface with a unidirectional stroke using 1500 grit sandpaper, removing all coarser scratches and leaving a satiny surface, then rubbing the surface hard against the back of the sandpaper to remove microscopic sanding debris and smooth the surface slightly. Silver plate that bonds to tiny flakes of brass is not bonded to the surface and will flake off. 400 grit sandpaper leaves too rough a surface. Spread the product over the treatment area and it will turn black. Rub along the direction of the sanding stroke until the black turns gray, then rub, rub, rub with a paper towel or cloth.If flaking happens, the surface is uneven. The options then are to either start over or VERY carefully do spot applications with a Q-tip to minimize unevenness. If a perfectly smooth finish is desired, the only option is to sand and start over. Three applications will put a glossy silver finish over the base metal.The product is reasonably pleasant to work with - mild, no toxic fumes, not chemically aggressive or irritating, reasonably easy to control, cleans with soap and water. A little goes a long way. Hopefully a better understanding of this product will help others avoid the frustrations reported in other reviews.Considering what it takes to make this product work effectively, if someone is going to be restoring or applying silver finishes on a regular basis a brush plating or immersion bath kit is a better option. It's ok for a one-off finish restoration if the surface of the base metal doesn't present issues. Otherwise, the degree of surface prep required makes it impractical and what you save in money you will spend in time.