What is derochee?

In jewelry, the deroche is used to remove traces of oxidation due to annealing and traces of borax due to soldering. Basically, it will clean our jewelry.

A deroch bath is usually composed of sulfuric acid and water (for the proportions, it is 1 volume of acid for 9 volumes of water). Some deroaches contain another chemical compound besides sulfuric acid, sodium bisulfate, better known as Sparex.

Regardless of its composition, the de-icing solution is harmful to your health, so it is essential to take certain precautions:

• Gloves, goggles and a respirator should be worn.
• It is necessary to work in a well ventilated room and to open the windows as much as possible.
• And most importantly, you need to have a fume hood over your grill.

In our video, Lucie tells you all about the deroché.

How to use a deroché ?

To prepare your deroché, you can use a Pyrex bowl that resists heat (some use a slow cooker, others a bottle warmer...) and a hot plate.
Put water in your bowl, then add the sulfuric acid or Sparex, making sure to respect the proportions indicated (here, it's 30 g of deroche for 1 liter of water).
Note: it is the acid that is added to the water and not the other way around! It is very important to understand this!

By heating, the crystals of the powder will dissolve. Be careful not to boil the derocher! When they are completely dissolved, it means that your derochery is ready.

Soak the pieces in the derochery for several minutes and remove them once there are no more traces. If the coins have solder on them, it is best to let them cool completely on a jeweler's pile before putting them in the deroché.
Then we plunge in a bowl of cold water with a little bicarbonate to rinse and clean the pieces.

To recover the pieces in a dewaxing bath, you must use brass or copper tweezers or plastic tweezers to avoid contaminating the dewax. Do not use steel or ferrous metal tongs, as these materials will create a chemical reaction and may contaminate the waste. If the pickling solution is contaminated, all the pieces will come out with a pinkish color.

How do I change a derochet?

You can use a derochage bath for several days or several weeks, depending on the use you make of it and the number of jewels you dip in it. But when the dewax is saturated in oxide, it is less effective. So it's time to change it.

But, it is not done anyhow. Because if sulfuric acid and Sparex are dangerous for your health, it goes without saying that they are also harmful for the environment. In order not to pollute waterways, you should not throw the waste into the sink without neutralizing it first.

The technique to neutralize the waste is simple and you will only need baking soda.
You put the bicarbonate little by little, it is better to put too much than not enough. But be careful, baking soda tends to foam a lot and it can quickly overflow. Moreover, it is absolutely necessary to do this operation under an extractor hood, in a well ventilated room and equipped with a protective mask, because the interaction of the acid and the bicarbonate of soda will cause toxic fumes.

Once no more reaction between the acid and the bicarbonate is observed, it means that the deroché is neutralized: you can throw it away!

How to make a homemade deroche?

1st recipe: White vinegar and coarse salt, also hot
Take 50 cl of white vinegar and add 2 to 3 large spoons of salt, or more. One makes heat the whole until the dissolution of salt. / 250ml and 15 ml of salt
Once the big salt is dissolved in the white vinegar, your déroché is ready. The disadvantage is the smell of vinegar

2nd recipe: Alum stone and hot water always
We use 4 tablespoons of alum stone powder for 1 liter of water . Alum stone has a tendency to attack the stones, so you have to be careful.