Patination Experimentation

I've been playing around with copper and different patinas lately (my idea of a good time!). I've been searching for easy and fairly safe ways to kill the glaring shine of new copper without having to purchase toxic chemicals and this latest experiment turned out so wonderful that I just had to share! It's so easy, you won't believe it!

To achieve a deep teal/blue patina on copper simply place a hand full of sawdust in a zip-lock bag. Then pour equal parts of ammonia and salt (I used a 1/4 cup of each) in the bag, close it and shake around to mix it all up. Then place your copper in the bag and forget about it for a while. The copper will become darker almost immediately but it takes a little time for the blue to appear. I completely forgot about my chain for a day and half and when I opened the bag I was thrilled to see how blue the copper had become. After a good scrubbing and drying the chain was good to go. I used it in a new necklace design and I am pretty darn please with the results! (see my Etsy shop for more info about this necklace)