Red Coral Beads lost their shine!

[LBoone]

This isn't about pearls, but it is bead related and I'm hoping someone here has some suggestions. I have a red coral bead and carved gemstone elephant necklace that hubby bought for me at an auction. It was pretty old and dirty. I wore it a couple of times and noticed the thread it was strung on had broken a strand. It was a cotton thread, not silk, and quite old and dirty anyway. So, I restrung them on some red silk. Afterwards I gave them a gentle wash with ivory soap and warm water. I noticed the beads at the back of the strand are VERY dull and have no shine at all. The beads in the front still retain some of their shine. I would try to get a photo but I don't think I can get it to show the differentiation.

Here is my question: I think I can use ZAM to repolish the stones, but can I do that with just a cloth and hand pressure, or do I need a buffing wheel? Will it even work at all?

Any experience or opinions would be welcome!!!!

 

[BWeaves]

I once overdid the cleaning on an amber pendant set it silver and dulled the amber. I just took a sunshine cloth and rubbed the amber until the shine came back. I'm not sure if that would work with coral. It might be difficult to get around all the parts of the beads when they are strung.

 

[JerseyPearl]

I just saw on Rios website that there are different types of sunshine cloths...one specifically for polishing.

 

[Katbran]

We need someone with Coral expertise - I don't know enough to help. I do know that most coral is dyed using one of two methods ( maybe there are more idk) water based and oil based. ( this is what a seller told me several years ago ..water based dyes fade) so you might want to show it to someone before you start working on the surface...or try one bead at the back where it won't show.

 

[Marianne]

Anna has great knowledge of coral, but she is pretty busy getting her clasp book out just now.

 

[perlas]

How about a polishing cloth?

Sylvet Universal can be used for gemstone beads so it should be ok to gently try on coral? Not sure but with caution, worth a try I think.

http://www.firemountaingems.com/resources/encyclobeadia/charts/clothtypes

 

[Pareltje]

I usually polish my coral beads with the part of a nail file which actually polish the nail to shine again. No, it's not the abrasive part. Hope this helps.

 

[amti]

I have a few coral beads that have lost some shine too and will have to give the file a try. Gotta locate one first... been a while since I used one! I may have a shine cloth but have used it on silver, so maybe I need a new one.

 

[Katbran]

I think the file Pareltje is referring to is the one with 4 different textures ( or 3 on some) and used on Acrylic nails. The final polish is like a fabric of some kind- very smooth. It's not at all abrasive. But again, I'd be careful and go lightly on a spot that doesn't show to try it out.

 

[Pareltje]

I think the file Pareltje is referring to is the one with 4 different textures ( or 3 on some) and used on Acrylic nails. The final polish is like a fabric of some kind- very smooth. It's not at all abrasive. But again, I'd be careful and go lightly on a spot that doesn't show to try it out.

You're right. It's the 4 texture file. The smoothest is for polishing the nails.

 

[Katbran]

I use that file in my silver work lol I must have about 5 of them

 

[Pareltje]

I use that file in my silver work lol I must have about 5 of them

Lol funny, I use it to polish my silver jewelry. It's good to minimize the scratches on my rings

 

[BWeaves]

Are you talking about the buffing nail thingies? They look like emery boards, but are a textured plastic fabric?

 

[LBoone]

I usually polish my coral beads with the part of a nail file which actually polish the nail to shine again. No, it's not the abrasive part. Hope this helps.

Yes!! It helps a lot!! I have one of those for buffing nails, as well as a sunshine cloth.

I knew I would get some great advice here! The necklace is ok as it is, I don't think anyone but myself would even notice the difference in the shine since the "bad" ones are on the sides and back of the neck when worn. But I would like to shine them if I could!!

 

[Pareltje]

Yes!! It helps a lot!! I have one of those for buffing nails, as well as a sunshine cloth.

I knew I would get some great advice here! The necklace is ok as it is, I don't think anyone but myself would even notice the difference in the shine since the "bad" ones are on the sides and back of the neck when worn. But I would like to shine them if I could!!

Great it has helped you

 

[LBoone]

I just wanted to say for the record that my nail buffer worked GREAT on my coral beads!!! If anyone else runs into this I would suggest that you try a nail buffer. I was only able to do a trial run, but I can see that an evening in front of the television with the nail buffer and the beads is going to make them look better than they even did when I got them!!! (They're pretty old, we were told they were Victorian when we bought them, I don't know about that but they certainly have some age on them!)

Thanks again for all the help!!!

 

[allstrungout]

I once cleaned a strand of coral "branches" and the entire strand dulled and looked awful. I was in a panic, as this was a restringing for a local jeweler. After a bit of research I learned that I had stripped the coral of its natural oils, so I rubbed it (very sparingly) with jojoba with GREAT success! It was time consuming having to do every single coral branch, but it looked fantastic and it was pretty easy getting into all of the nooks and crannies.