Hyperactivated Pickle; a jeweler's wet dream

Jeweler's have secret lusts that most people would find odd.... is it wrong or unnatural to get shivers down my spine when gazing at a drop-forged steel anvil? or feel my pulse quicken at the thought of a Cavallin Rolling mill? I think not. Well one of the things that fills me with joy is tips and tricks to make my work easier. Most American jeweler's use sparex to "pickle" (clean) their metal which is commonly thought of as an acid, but is in fact a salt. In Europe, I'm told, they still use alum which is the origin of the term "pickle" because alum is an ingredient in cucumber pickles. Hyperactivated pickle is made by adding hydrogen peroxide to sparex pickle and it becomes a magical liquid that removes the copper scale that sometimes occurs when heating brass and the gray firescale that occurs on silver. And like the sexy mofo that it is, the hyperpickle caresses the metal all over making it look and feel beautiful. I bet from the title of this blog you thought be much naughtier and far less educational, huh? sorry... i'm just a big metalsmithing nerd.