Tarnish impeding cloth:sacrificial silver vs. adsorption?

[Rick F]

Well I'm not a 'chemist, curator, or conservator', but I keep my silver euphonium in a Pacific Silver Cloth bag. I have Glenn Cronkhite leather gig bag - which unfortunately causes a bit of tarnish when stored in the gig bag without the Silver cloth bag. I think this is caused by some exposed leather seams inside the gig bag and mainly shows up around the bell where the horn comes in contact with the seam. The Pacific Silver cloth bag works pretty well in delaying any tarnish. I got this cloth or fabric from JoAnne's Fabric for about $10 a yard, but it was very wide at around 60". My wife helped me in making this bag - as I'm not very talented in the sewing dept. She put a casing at the top of the bag so I could add a draw-string.

[Rick F]

Well, Not really sure. I thought this was in fact Pacific Silver cloth as it is dark brown in color. The fabric almost feels like a thin felt - but of course is not felt. This bulk they had was 60" wide (or at least 54" wide) meaning I only had to buy 1 yard to make a bag for my euph.

Hope this helps.

[Virtuoso]

The absorption one: potentially functional, although that depends on what the compound in the cloth is. I would be skeptical.

The silver lined one: Definately not. If the clother were lined with a better reducing agent than silver, then yes. Zinc, Chromium 2+, Manganese, or Aluminum are all potential candidates. The point, however, is to have something significantly more reactive than the silver.

[Art Hovey]

Early in my career as a high school physics teacher I had a conversation with a chemistry teacher who was a real nut case but seemed to know a lot of chemistry.

He told me that he had read about making silver tarnish-inhibiting bags by soaking the cloth in a solution of cadmium acetate, if I remember correctly. Eventually a chemistry instructor from a very respectable local university (also an amateur tubist) offered to get me some from his lab.

He did, and the bottle rolled around in my car for a few years. I never got around to trying the recipe. Eventually I learned that cadmium salts are extremely carcinogenic; my friend probably was doing his lab a favor by getting rid of the stuff.

Perhaps someone on this learned forum can tell me if the original idea was plausible, or if I have mis-remembered the name of the compound.

[pgym]

Not trying to be unnecessarily picky, and not trying to pick a fight, or start anything, but just in the interests of accuracy... you probably don't have Pacific Silvercloth (embedded silver), but perhaps have some (activated charcoal) competing product. From the silverguard.com web site:

Authentic Pacific Silvercloth is always brown because the embedded silver particles will catch the gases that would otherwise tarnish the silver articles inside, causing the brown fabric to discolor to various shades of brown. Other manufacturers' products are not embedded with silver but are treated with other metals, such as zinc, and do not discolor. Also, authentic Pacific Silvercloth is 36-38" wide, whereas other products are always wider, and as other manufacturers' products are also available in brown and look very similar to Pacific Silvercloth, you can identify authentic Pacific Silvercloth by the width. And, finally, because Pacific Silvercloth is always brown, you can be assured that any other color is not authentic.

"Just in the interests of accuracy," you might want to note that the material you quote from silverguard.com pertains to "authentic Pacific Silvercloth," i.e., the brand "Pacific Silvercloth®," as disinct from the generic colloidal silver impregnated fabric commonly known as "silvercloth" or "Pacific silvercloth."

The Care of Silver

Chests for storing silver flatware are generally lined with a fabric known as silvercloth [NB: "silvercloth" not "Pacific Silvercloth®"] which is impregnated with tiny silver particles which sacrificially absorb sulfurs; this fabric is also available in pouches or zippered bags of various sizes for the storage of individual pieces, and in lengths for lining containers or entire display cabinets (see source list). [p. 2] ...

Source List
Pacific Silvercloth, manufactured by Wamsutta Industrial Division, 1430 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, (212)930-5368. The manufacturer states that the product is sold in "most finer silver departments, housewares departments and fabric stores." Other brands of cloth are also available.

colloidal silver-impregnated Pacific Silvercloth from Hancock Fabrics

colloidal silver-impregnated Pacific Silvercloth from Atlanta Silver

And, btw, it's "absorption" not "adsorption."

The silver lined one: Definately not. If the clother were lined with a better reducing agent than silver, then yes. Zinc, Chromium 2+, Manganese, or Aluminum are all potential candidates. The point, however, is to have something significantly more reactive than the silver.

Oh, really?

You want to bet on that?

[Rick F]

Well I just learned something today. 'adsorption' "... the process of attraction of atoms or molecules (generically known as "monomers") from an adjacent gas or liquid"
adsorption

[jamsav]

And, btw, it's "absorption" not "adsorption."



Oh, really?

You want to bet on that?[/quote]

I'll bet that you're checking a dictionary right about now ....