Baking Soda + White Vinegar
I have a big box of plastic goldtone buttons that has been sitting around for a long time without being touched. The reason is their colour: even though I love their designs, the plastic goldtone makes them look horrible and cheap. I keep opening the box and looking through it, but I just can't force myself to use them in any of my projects. It was time to do something about it. I was planning to get rid of them but before that I wanted to try one of my chemical experiments on them...nothing would be lost anyway if it turned out to be a useless plan!
I went for a mix of hot water, vinegar and baking soda. I let the buttons soak overnight and lo and behold... my ugly plastic ducks had turned into pretty vintage looking swans ! I don't know how I came up with this idea, but I use these " ingredients" for cleaning and I thought it might have a discolouring effect on plastic, and so it did.
I'm keeping the box of buttons!
Before (right) and after (left)
11 comments:
Holy cats! I love it. This is not only crafty but frugal too. They turned out fantastic.
Wow! Who would have guessed?
Wow, that's a great idea.
Vinegar and baking soda are the housewife's (and apparently the jeweler's) best friends. Vinegar used to be one of the first cleaning agents my grandmother reached for. She was never one to "waste" money on those new fangled cleaning formulas! I still buy my vinegar by the gallon jug. Sometimes, I even use it for cooking recipes!
Very cool, I might have to try that myself. I definitely have plenty of components that have been sitting around for years. :)
They look wonderful! (I use that vinegar recipe when my kitty has an 'accident')
Wow, what amazing results! Thanks for the tip!! :)
So clever - thanks for sharing your discovery!
Vicki
GENIUS!!!
just discovered your awesome blog on the etsy forum thread - i'd love it if you'd come visit me sometime:
http://namaste-elsiee.blogspot.com/
well done! a little alchemy! Also try baking soda in hot water in a aluminum pan to help remove tarnish from silver! no scrubbing or polishing. Just a little shake now and then and poof! shiney silver
Wow! What a great tip! :)
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