Today Beadsaholic Blog brings a tutorial on how to make your beads dirty or just re-oxidize your already dirty beads and jewelry.

In January, I received the Ohm Beads Year of the Cock in silver. When these were released there were about ten Ohm Beads Dirty Cock that were sent to select retailers, most of these were given away in event drawings etc. I find the Dirty Cock funny, though I know its crude. Of course, there are many jokes and puns circulating around Facebook.  All joking aside oxidized jewelry is rather appealing and beautiful. I have loved oxidized jewelry ever since I received my first Pandora oxidized bracelet. So, I’d love to oxidize my Year of the Cock! The trick I’m going to share with you all today is what I have used to re-oxidize my jewelry in the past. It’s safe, inexpensive and works perfectly! No Jeweler or harsh chemicals needed!

Ohm Beads Year of the Cock is still available at a few retailers. Available here in the USA at the Artisan Bead Boutique and in Italy at Pianeta Beads by II Diamante.

Before photographs of the silver Ohm Beads Year of the Cock.

Photographs belong to Beadsaholic blog, please do not share without proper credits. Any photos shared need to be in the original state.

Year of the cock is a beautifully detailed bead.

 

First step: Boil eggs. Once eggs are boiled, I remove with a spoon and place on a hand towel to dry. Once the eggs are dry I place the egg in a ziploc bag. Normally I only use one egg, however I used a larger ziploc and had out of date eggs. I decided to see if it would change the time frame of oxidation but it was still about the same.

Second Step: I usually place a paper towel to help soak up condensation, but this is not necessary. I place the bead or jewelry inside the bag with the eggs. Push air out and close.

Third Step: Make sure bag is completely closed then smash the eggs.  I use whatever is available to press against the eggs. You can use your hands however the eggs are still hot so it’s always best to use a utensil to press against the egg. In this process, I used a measuring cup.

Here you see all three eggs smashed in the bag. I leave it this way sitting on the counter, usually about 2-3 hours.  However, you can leave it longer if desired.

I check periodically to see how oxidized the bead is. I don’t open the bag until the bead is the desired shade I want.

Once the bead is as dark as you would like, remove from bag and wash, I usually use original Dawn soap.  Rinse and dry!

Compared to the oxidized bracelet and Heart of Stone from Ohm Beads. As you can see it looks the same!

Here are after oxidation photos of my now Dirty Cock!

As you can see he is a beautiful dark shade of charcoal grey or black.

Other side. as you can see the bead still shines and reflects some light. It’s not all matte.

 

 

I have been asked: Will using eggs to oxidize mess up my beads? No, using eggs is completely safe! You can also experiment and buff out certain parts of beads back to silver to create a unique two-tone bead. Below I have done just that, so that you can see, if you decide you don’t like it “dirty” it’s an easy fix!

For this tutorial, I am using the Trollbeads Fantasy Butterfly. This bead is still available at Trollbeads.

Fantasy Butterfly before oxidation.

Follow the same steps above. Here I have placed only one egg in the bag, removed air and have rolled the bag to make the space smaller before smashing the egg, since I’m using a gallon size bag.

Checking for oxidation. as you can see here, I didn’t place a paper towel inside the bag, so I have some condensation. Once the desired shade, remove, wash, rinse and dry.

Here is the Trollbeads Fantasy Butterfly after oxidation.

Now I will use a Pandora silver cleaning bag to remove the oxidation on one side of the butterfly.  Now you see one side is silver and one side is dark.

A little more rubbing with the cloth to finish cleaning the one side of the bead.  Now I have one side shiny silver and one side dark.

As you can see the bead is now shiner than when we started! No damage at all.

Here you can see one side is still dark and the other silver.

Now the finished bead!

Dark side. You see it matches the Ohm Beads Dirty Twisted Bangle.

Silver side. Now I can wear it whichever way I’d like and am in the mood to wear.

The process takes time; however, you can see that it is very easy and inexpensive to do!

 

I would love to hear your feedback! Leave me a comment below. What do you think of this tutorial? Is it something you would like to try? If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.