For polishing silver, the burnisher or bloodstone is employed, using soap water, thin beer, or a decoction of soap wort. Silver-plated articles are also polished with Vienna lime.
To produce a dull luster on gold and silver ware, glass brushes, i. e., scratch brushes of finely spun glass threads, are made use of.
Pewter articles are polished with Vienna lime or whiting; the former on a linen rag, the latter on leather.
If embossed articles are to be polished, use the burnisher, and for polish, soap water, soap-wort decoction, ox gall with water.
Antimony-lead alloys are polished with burnt magnesia on soft leather or with fine jewelers’ red.
Zinc is brightened with Vienna lime or powdered charcoal.
Vienna lime gives a light-colored polish on brass, while ferric oxide imparts a dark luster.
Rouge Or Paris Red.
For the most part, Paris red consists of ferric oxide or ferrous oxide. In its production advantage is taken of a peculiarity common to most salts of iron, that when heated to a red heat they separate the iron oxide from the acid combination. In its manufacture it is usual to take commercial green vitriol, copperas crystals, and subject them to a moderate heat to drive off the water of crystallization. When this is nearly accomplished they will settle down in a white powder, which is now placed in a crucible and raised to a glowing red heat till no more vapor arises, when the residue will be found a soft smooth red powder. As the temperature is raised in the crucible, the darker will become the color of the powder and the harder the abrasive.
Should an especially pure rouge be desired, it may be made so by boiling the powder we have just made in a weak solution of soda and afterwards washing it out repeatedly and thoroughly with clean water. If treated in this way, all the impurities that may chance to stick to the iron oxide will be separated from it.