Bleached Pearls

[pearls and girls]

I bleached two strands of Tahitian pearls to get the smell out of them. It worked once before, but it looks like I have now damaged the surface of the pearls. They look like they have a white powdering coating on them... but that coating won’t come off.

Is there a solution to this problem?

Ricki

 

[Lily Blanche Jewellery]

Are you able to post a photo of the damage? What solution did you use to bleach them?

 

[pearls and girls]

Bleach and water.

 

[jshepherd]

They are destroyed, unfortunately.

 

[CortezPearls]

This is quite unfortunate. Who told you to bleach them?

 

[StarryPearl]

Oh my goodness... I feel sorry for the pearls...

Many pearls seem to have the underneath layer of nacre exposed where the powdered nacre went away and left holes. If I were you, I might try using the smoothest side of a nail buffer to buff off the white powdering coating and hopefully that could help expose the underneath layer. I have never done this before so I don't know how well that would work in practice. But it can't get worse than this, right?

 

[CortezPearls]

I agree with @StarryPearl and after doing this...place the pearls inside a bowl with mineral oil for at least 8 hours. This will -of course- ruin the thread but this is the least of the concerns now I guess (you may also remove them from the thread). I have "rescued" pearls with this method...but never with bleach. Worth a try!

 

[JerseyPearl]

Since your pearls have been damaged, I think the idea of polishing off the outer layer of nacre might be a good experiment to try. I would definitely not use any thing akin to sand paper as that would be too rough and might cause more damage. Instead, you could try using a polishing cloth like the kind used to polish silver. Or you could try polishing papers (3M makes them in different grits; they are sold by Rio Grande). Personally, I would experiment with different polishing options, using a single pearl, but I agree with Jeremy and Douglas that they are likely not salvageable.

 

[pattye]

Gosh, this is very sad, pearls and girls! Usually the smell will disappear with time. Often Tahitian keshi may smell and can be flushed with a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water, half and half, in a syringe. Then rinse with clear water and let dry completely. One of our other members told me about this method and I have used it more than once! Usually only a few pearls are stinky.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

They are destroyed, unfortunately.

Agreed. Once the proteinaceous component of any surface are removed, it's value and qualities are significantly reduced, if not detroyed entirely.

As a general rule of thumb, pearls cannot be polished, nor restored. Treatments with mineral oil or polyethylene glycol may help for a short time, but these usually dry out or become discolored in the long term.

 

[Katbran]

Oh dear and nice circle ones too ! I must admit that I've never had this issue with any pearls but as Patty mentioned the Peroxide rinse is what I'd heard of.... must have been a stronger solution than you used before. I'm so sorry to hear that your pearls are ruined. Good luck - perhaps you can revive enough to make a bracelet...