Patina Stopped Working / Storage
Hello,
I have the gel form patina, and I mixed it with water and put it in a film container. It worked the first time, but a few days later, the bit in the film canister only puts spots of black on my ring. Do I need to store it differently, or does that patina only work for a few hours?
Thanks!
Stacy's Answer:
While the gel form LOS seems to be very durable and long-lasting, once you mix it with water to create the patinating solution, the time to use it is limited.
I usually use the patina very hot, so as soon as I've finished dipping, I toss it out. The mixed solution usually goes inert within a few hours perhaps lasting as long as 24hours under ideal conditions. When the LOS in inert, it looses it's yellow coloring and no longer has a strong sulfur odor aaaand no longer works.
I store the LOS gel in its original container inside a heavy zip-style plastic bag. This helps insure that in the event the gel leaks, it is contained. (had one come unscrewed inside a large traveling case which was a very unpleasant and stinky mess to clean!) I keep liver-of-sulfur gel in my studio sitting on a shelf which is not in the direct sunlight and also in a cookie jar in my kitchen.
