Soldering is only half the job. Once the solder has flowed, the piece still needs to be pickled and cleaned before you can file or polish it. The Complete Solder Clean-Up Set puts everything for that process on your bench: Handy Flux silver solder flux, Citric Acid Pickle, Curved Copper Pickle Tongs and our German-made brass brush. Add a torch and solder, and you're covered from the first brush of flux to a clean piece ready for finishing, and it costs less than buying each item separately.
Handy Flux is a flux paste, so it stays where you brush it rather than running off small parts. It protects the join while it heats, and it works as a soldering flux on sterling, fine silver and gold alike. It's the flux we reach for in the studio on every kind of join, from jump rings to bezels.
After soldering and quenching, the piece goes into the Citric Acid Pickle. It's a milder alternative to traditional acid pickles, which makes it a comfortable choice for a home studio. Kept warm, it clears the dark oxide and glassy flux residue in a few minutes.
The copper tongs are what you use to get pieces in and out. Copper is the right metal around pickle, as steel contaminates the solution and copper-plates your silver. The curved end gets underneath a piece cleanly, and at 210mm they keep your hands well clear of the pot.
Last comes the brass brush. With a little dishwashing detergent and water, it removes the white surface, leftover oxidation or copper flush that pickling can leave behind, giving you an even surface ready for the next stage. Brass bristles are soft enough not to scratch silver or gold, where a steel wire brush would.
If you're starting from scratch and need a torch, soldering block and tweezers as well, have a look at our Soldering Kits.
