Thread: Darkening Stainless Wire

Just about every water treatment plant feeds it in finished water to get a fluoride residual. Pretty wicked stuff. It wouldn't take much.

Originally Posted by SalmonDaze

I suggest immersion in Coke or Pepsi. No, I'm not kidding. The phosphoric acid MIGHT be enough to put an etch in it.

You may need to play with temperature (increase to about 140*) and certainly time (8-12 hours or more).

Having worked in the industry, pickling stainless was always a challenge and only truly manageable with hydroflouric acid. Thank God, you can't find any. Think: "Aliens" but worse.

I put a capful of bleach in a glass at my dentists recommendation to soak my bridge in. He meant for only two or three minutes I learned later. Overnight, it Turned the nice, shiney, stainless very black. No lasting damage that I could detect, but hard to get off. I would experiment a little with it. 27# wire isn't very resistant to breaking already. Great for spanish, though.