Copper is a really fun material to make jewellery with, it is reactive and oxidises easily, so you can make some great patterns and patina using simple household ingredients. In this tutorial I’m going to show you how to turn Copper green using kitchen salt and balsamic vinegar! Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to turn copper green:
1: A plastic container with a lid. I used a recycled takeaway container.
2: A couple of paper towels, one for turning the pieces green and another for wiping them off.
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3: Some copper charms. I used these charms I made from some copper sheet a while ago.
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4: Vinegar. I used balsamic vinegar for this tutorial, but you can try other vinegars such as white vinegar.
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5: Salt.
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Now, here are the steps to follow to turn your copper green:
1: Put the paper towel inside the plastic container.
2: Add a dash of vinegar to the container, it will soak into the paper towel.
3: Add the salt to the container, sprinkle it over the paper towel.
4: Place the copper pieces into the container, try to have them leaning against the side as having the pieces right against the vinegar-coated paper towel stops the patina from developing well (you can see this below with the copper arch charm, one side didn’t turn green because it was directly against the salt and vinegar mixture).
5: Put on the lid and leave the pieces overnight.
6: Once you have a patina you like, you can take the pieces out of the container and gently pat them dry with another paper towel, and that’s all! Now your pieces are ready to make with.
The final patina can be delicate when it is dry, so you can protect it with a substance called renaissance wax, which coats the piece and protects the green patina.
Here are some earrings I made using this technique, what do you think?
If you love this design, you can buy them here: https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/724963620/australian-made-earrings-copper-earrings?click_key=71fb4f1a5e946b8d959e969ff1a5137d17891322%3A724963620&click_sum=ee529605&ref=shop_home_active_27&frs=1
Here’s another pair you can purchase: https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/746942552/copper-and-silver-earrings-white-jade?click_key=42061fd44dcd2c519b427d32fdeaf45615238bcc%3A746942552&click_sum=3fb803a0&ref=shop_home_active_2&frs=1
And a third pair I made using copper wire and jasper beads, you can buy them here: https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/1130385893/textured-copper-earrings-copper-earrings?click_key=1fb520d80bb1c050717c9f98bc6c20c3f0260d48%3A1130385893&click_sum=deed90a6&ref=shop_home_active_8&frs=1
The post Here’s how to turn copper charms green using kitchen ingredients! I love this technique. appeared first on DIY Jewelry Hub.
