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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bronwen, post: 289723, member: 5833&quot;]Well, here&#039;s what you <i><b>absolutely must not do</b></i> to get rid of the verdigris:</p><p><a href="http://vintagecostumejewels.com/Info/How_to_Clean_Verdigris_From_Costume_Jewelry.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://vintagecostumejewels.com/Info/How_to_Clean_Verdigris_From_Costume_Jewelry.htm" rel="nofollow">http://vintagecostumejewels.com/Info/How_to_Clean_Verdigris_From_Costume_Jewelry.htm</a></p><p>Never expose pearls, shell, coral or even lava cameos to vinegar, ammonia, bleach or any any kind of extra-strength cleaning product.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you will have a jeweller remove the remaining fragment of the frame, some of the verdigris will go with it.&nbsp; If any is left, you might try what I did with the intaglio of a woman pointing upward shown on the second page of my intro forum thread.&nbsp; That piece is in a brass frame.&nbsp; Verdigris was not so much the problem; it was just nearly black in many places.&nbsp; I only cared about the intaglio &amp; had no expectation the setting would ever have a passable appearance.&nbsp; Now it gleams.</p><p><br /></p><p>Amazingly, rubbing in toothpaste &amp; using the tip of a finger as the polishing tool did wonders.&nbsp; Think I probably also had at it with one of those disposable paper tarnish removing cloths.&nbsp; I do not always use toothpaste in my cameo cleaning arsenal.&nbsp; It is especially useful if a cameo needs sprucing up but it is inadvisable to submerse the entire piece in water, e.g., if the setting would allow water to get under the cameo but would also make it difficult to get it completely dry again.&nbsp; I use a baking soda formula toothpaste; toothpaste that is supposed to whiten teeth belongs on the list of other things never to use on cameos.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is only occurring to me as I write. I have never seen it recommended anywhere and a museum curator would be horrified.&nbsp; If I had a piece that needed a small stubborn bit of verdigris removed from an accessible spot that was not going to be visible, and gentler methods were not succeeding, think I would take my little metal diamond dust nail file to it lightly and essentially sand the spot off until the metal was clean.&nbsp; Just a thought.</p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to ask anything else and I will be in touch if I have any other useful ideas.&nbsp; Please share it with us if you make something new with your cameos.&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie100" alt=":writer:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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