DIY & Home Improvement

I have a great book on chemical patination, but it's buried away in storage (we're in the middle of a remodel).

There are ways of patinating silver with sulfides, but they are extremely toxic if not done properly.

I was a painter during my working career, and spent the last 15 or so years doing lots of specialty finishes, and metallic leaf work (gold, silver, copper, variegated, etc.) Most of our special treatments for metals were done with simple glazes, although we did use a soldering flux for aging copper. We actually purchased the book on patination (an industry manual) in hopes of incorporating those techniques. Never got around to doing much of it, though.

So...I've typed all this, and I haven't actually helped you at all. we're going to storage on Sunday; if you haven't figured it out by then, I'll look for that book.

How are you applying the bleach? Have you tried one application with a weaker bleach/water mix, followed by a stronger one, using combos of sea-sponges, squirt bottles, rags, etc? One of the things I learned with glazing, faux bois, marbling, etc., is to work in layers. I suspect that could be true in what you're doing. Perhaps using different chemicals in separate applications?