How to remove tarnish from OLD Silver wire?


Hello all Audiogoners,
I have some pure silver wire (solid core UP-OCC 99,99%) left that I bought 4 years ago from reliable German reseller.
I have still a couple meters left.
Now I need this wire for my XLR to RCA cables but I found that it`s now tarnished (yellow to black color on some cable areas).
I have googeled to find the solution in any possible way, but the only answers I will get, will lead me to pages such as: "how to clean a jewelery or silver coins".

Please let me know if there is any possibility to clean it as ordinary silver or high-end signal cable needs different approach for cleaning? Is there some special procedure/chemicals to clean such (high-end audio) silver wire?
At present I`m at the point to trash this silver wire and to buy a new (that probably acquire the same tarnish after couple years)?
Maybe someone can offer a solution for this?
I`m not asking only because of my lousy couple meters, but there seems no decent answer (on high-end cable point) anywhere over the internet. Therefore I`m sure that there is a vast amount of people who are searching answers for similar questions?
Everyone is most welcome to share their experience.
plutos
You can take it to a jeweler and have them polish it off. They have buffers that work real well. Might cost you 5 bucks, could be worth it if your cables are expensive.
Except that tarnish is not silver oxide but silver sulfide, which is not conductive. It is a good idea to remove it, and many new polishes are non-abrasive with protective conditioners left behind to prevent tarnishing. Getting a product as above mentioned, or even something simply from Ace Hardware can prove to be positive. I am not familiar with the pros and cons of cigarette ash...
"I wouldn't remove the tarnish. Silver oxide won't damage the signal, but some of the chemicals you might use to clean it can."
Ditto!
It is not going to hurt anything to have tarnish on silver conductors.
Years ago I used cigarette ashes to polish silver and it did an excellent job. I wonder if that would leave a harmful residue behind?
I wouldn't remove the tarnish. Silver oxide won't damage the signal, but some of the chemicals you might use to clean it can.
Try the two Tarn-X products - first the "Wipe and Rinse" to remove the tarnish, rinse with distilled water, and then the Silver Glaze polish.

Regards,
I would not worry too much about tarnish on the wire. It might be a good idea to clean off just the contact area on the ends before terminating them. I don't think it will make much of a sonic difference for the rest of the wire unless it is terribly pitted or corroded. Happich Simichrome is my favorite metal polish if you want to get through the corrosion and put a beautiful shine on the ends.
I have some pure silver wire (solid core UP-OCC 99,99%) left that I bought 4 years ago from reliable German reseller
Personally I would go for a liquid silver cleaner then follow it up with something that will prevent oxidation from re-occurring.
well i guess the answer should be silver polish? But if you have cleaning ammonia then that will do to. All metal polish has ammonia as its first ingredient or at least so where in the mix.