Cleaning Copper Plated Leaf Earrings

On our last visit to Canada in 2014, DH bought me 2 copper plated maple leaf pendants that I turned into earrings. I had chosen this patina (orange tinted) copper plated ones because it reminded me of their fall colours. Weren't they pretty?

Little did I know, copper does not do well in humid areas, as they tarnish very easily. In a short couple of years, my beautiful copper plated maple leaves turned ugly black and green... :(

This morning I Googled cleaning tutorials for these types of jewelries and came across Frosted Leaves. They had various care instructions on their page, and Wanda kindly responded to my inquiry regarding my earrings. She also warned me that the patina earrings cannot be cleaned without removing the patina so after cleaning there will only be the regular copper colour left.

I tried their aluminum foil and baking soda method, but it didn't help that much. This was how it looked afterwards...

So I became desperate and tried the lemon juice method...

What I did was put them in a small glass (about 200 ml) and cover them with hot water. Then I squeezed a quarter of lime (I think it was about 1/2 tablespoon) into the glass. It took about 30 seconds for one and twice longer for the other one. The difference was visible right away. Then I used the white toothpaste and toothbrush just because it felt like I should. Haha...

Then I rinsed them well with tap water (not hot) and dried them. This was how they look afterwards... Not bad, eh? They are still wearable even though the patina is gone. Maybe I will do it again one more time and get more shine out of them.

If you know of any other method, please let me know!

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