Oh! That's a great idea. Do you mind if I make a video about that?

The aluminum strips the oxygen away because aluminum prefers to be rusted more than silver does, this results in the silver losing its oxide, being shiny.

!And that's how it works? Wow, I should try it sometime.

Didn’t he mention that at the start? Edit: f*ck it was sarcasm fml

Does anybody actually watch these videos?

That was the paragraph I should've read _before_ trying the trick. Thanks. If I ever get to try this again, I will revise my method. Question: do you see any utility for adding (NaCl) salt? Heat may speed diffusion enough to make it unnecessary, but it seems impractical to keep such a large vessel boiling for long. Further, mechanical scrubbing is easier at a lower temperature. Will salt actually help the process, or is that just folk chemistry?

pocket83² The baking soda isn't really a part of the main reaction which converts the silver tarnish back into silver metal so i'm assuming adding salt just put more ions into the water to allow for better electrical flow. The heating is just used to speed up the reaction. I don't think it has to be boiling but a warm solution should definitely work better than a cold one. The silver acts as the cathode and the aluminum acts as the anode in this electrochemical reaction and the baking soda just acts as a salt bridge of sorts to allow for the electrons to flow from the aluminum to the silver. I'm not too sure why baking soda is used specifically and I don't see how adding salt would make it work any worse so it's worth giving a try. The OH ions produced by the sodium bicarbonate might play a role in side reactions. If so the chemical reaction would be slightly different [3(Ag2S) + 2Al + 3(H2O) = 6Ag + 3(H2S) + Al2O3] but the same mechanism of silver sulfide converting back into silver would still apply. You can also do this experiment by connecting the tarnished silver piece to the negative end of a battery and the positive end in the electrolytic solution (this will be an amazing thing to witness as you see the black turn to silver right before your eyes fairly quickly). The battery acts as the source of electrons instead of the aluminum in that case. This would remove the tarnish much much faster but I can't speak for the quality of the silver when comparing both methods.

So oddly enough, despite all of the demands to use a specific recipe, the salt and the baking soda are doing the same thing in different ways. Heat is only a rate of diffusion (motion), and there is probably already enough free ions in any non-distilled bucket of water to allow the reaction to take place. So, correct me if I'm wrong here, but if we were to wrap a piece of foil around the silver, and then throw it in a bucket of tap water for a week, should we expect a working result?

"I liked that Patina...."

@@MrMagicBlox Rip xD

Mrs. Pocket ain't real

@@thatgoose2639, is anything real though? Reality is truly individualistic and everyone sees things differently. Are you real?

I know! Even if she didn’t want to be on camera (which is totally understandable) he could put some audio in.

Now that you know my true identity, you can understand why I can never show my face. This city needs me to remain in the shadows until it is finally ready.

@@pocket83squared Your secret is safe with me.

Thank you for your comment. I really didn't want to see pocket's face(out of respect for privacy), and searched for a comment like yours.

he *is* the camera

He's HowToBasic :o

And you don't even have to get that gray stuff all over your hands!

pocket83² true xD

Because they are... 😎🙂

pencil eraser! thats a new one for me, but im gonna give it a shot!

Yep. Should've looked it up first before posting a video about it. I should've used salt and lined the crock with foil. But don't worry! The 1,200 comments I get about it in 2019 will serve as an endless reminder. The funny thing is that I usually spot problems like that before the video gets made public, but the 'corrections' keep coming for years. Thus, the "grain of salt."

@@pocket83squared well I didnt use any salt

No no no. You need more than a grain of salt for the method to work! Happy 2019.

It said silver on the bottom

I used NaCl

I also learned it's the copper that tarnishes, and not the silver.

Sure. Staying in the same position for too long wears you out faster. Also, keeping it in motion allows the solvent to do its work where possible.

@@pocket83squared Thank you for the advice. It's appreciated!

Buffing is kind of a final step. Think of it as like one million grit sandpaper. If you just started buffing right away, you would get a smear of brown stuff peppered with the occasional shiny spot. Would've been a cool experiment, though.

I'm polishat

Soft cloth and more elbow grease.

Buy a buffing wheel

The layers of clothes underneath are clean! Besides, if you shine yourself up just to work in the shop, that is simply insecurity. If you are doing it for the sake of viewers, then it is self-indulgence. I work in old jeans. Honestly, it's surprising that I don't get more comments about it, considering what a bunch of painted-up pansies many of the gen X/Y hipsters and millennials are. The tight pants! And the pink fingers! How does one climb a tree in such a state, let alone get "looks"?

No, it's just different. That channel is for higher production stuff. It's more geometric/mathematical, and it's mass audience friendly. I may sell out on that one and take some sponsorships. I'm more (too) honest here.

So, what? If a polish contains a solvent, then it is still removing some of the causes of the tarnish. Besides, buffing (with a polish) is a mechanical process that removes material- oxidized metal being the outermost layer in this case. Are you suggesting something else, or are you telling me that what I did didn't work?

Yes, some polishes do contain solvents, but most(?) do not. Obviously, I did see what you did remove the tarnish, but removing large amounts of tarnish is not its main purpose. I meant to say that polish is basically like sandpaper. It works by wearing away the silver and tarnish, but you don't want to remove the silver. That's why you should use a chemical cleaner, something that removes the oxygen from the silver oxide, leaving the silver where it is supposed to be.

Yeah I was wondering why he didn't go the vinegar route probably because the aluminum and baking soda and salt method is more fun

Dismissive comments like that one are often so devoid of nuance that I seriously question my motives for replying to them. Oh well, even the lowliest slime-mold serves its function; ergo, here's some sustenance for you: I'm sure your own collection of silver objects has "worth" enough to be much desired. So by all means, suck on your satisfaction-just do it somewhere else, without slurping around here. My wife finds it to be beautiful. She uses it to water plants. Seems at least one motive might be to defend her opinion of value over that of some random nay-saying internet protist, huh?

@@pocket83squared Over time I have acquired a good number of silver creamers, sugar bowls, candlesnuffers, and other bowls large enough to be used for non-acidic condiments. From time to time I'll buy unusual silver-soldered items such as used in hotels in the 19th and 20th centuries. Plate? Yes, if the item is of unusual design. I recently bought a tray attached to a slim stem resting on a base of little carved cupids. Think shallow silver 'wineglass' with nuts or caviar instead of wine. Plate...but no mark of origin or manufacture. This stunning object cost $3 at a yard sale in a little town east of Los Angeles way out in the sticks at th edge of the desert. How the rustics who sold it to me got it might be a story in itself. So, plate is usually of little value, but once in a while the odd piece comes along to belie that statement. At the moment the caviar bowl remains at $3.

In university, my grades in chemistry were nearly supernatural. I loved the study, and I even set a record on one of the major exams. But I couldn't stand the chemistry people! All they ever seem to care about is semantics, with nearly no mind given to utility. Irrelevant, nerd.

unsubscribed

There are plenty more where you came from. lol.

Whats your fucking problem dude? Wife wanted the patina?

@@pocket83squared What did you go to university to study? I plan to be an engineer, and I like that your videos concern the process of solving problems. While your methods are not always the most efficient, they seem to result in you becoming a more learned individual. My current problem is deciding on an exact field of engineering...

No. There's no reason to. I don't want to be spotted in the wild.

pocket83² thats reasonable, i remember you mentioning this in another video. I just saw you play around with reflections in your last video, that made me suspicious :D

Just chuck it in and put the top on, clamp it down, open a tiny hole to vent steam pressure and voila! Steamed Frog!