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Gold and silver are not the most sought-after precious metals for nothing. With our products, you can gold and silver plate yourself with the help of galvanic systems.

Gold has been valued and loved as the most valuable precious metal in most cultures for thousands of years. Silver is equally popular as a precious metal due to similar properties. The extraordinary shine, relative rarity and special properties of durability and the like make pure gold a sought-after and attractive object of exchange. Therefore, it is not surprising that galvanic gilding and silver plating as an art or craft also enjoy a high status! [Galvanic] Gilding is therefore, in the broadest sense, the coating of metallic and non-metallic objects with a functional or decorative gold coating. Learn on this page how to properly electroplate your favourite objects or functional items!

Gold or silver plating with the help of galvanic baths

With our different gold electrolytes and our silver electrolyte, you can easily gold- or silver-coat via electrolysis in a bath. By applying current to the electrolyte bath, elemental gold or silver is deposited on the surface and thus the target object is refined. Stainless steel or graphite anodes are usually used for this purpose. Asymmetrical objects with complex surfaces tend to be less suitable for bath electroplating - symmetrical objects, on the other hand, are excellent for uniform plating in the electroplating bath. The great advantage of bath electroplating is that the finishing process is automatic and large layer thicknesses can be achieved. Note the method and material specificity of the electrolytes.

Gold or silver plating with the help of pen electroplating - GalvanoPen and GalvanoBrush

Gold and silver plating with a pen is a simple and effective way to finish objects of all sizes and surface structures. Depending on the requirements, the GalvanoPen can be used for filigree, small-scale - or the GalvanoBrush for large-scale finishing. In pen electroplating, the precious metal is deposited at the contact point and forms a coating layer there. Depending on the type of process, the pen is moved in small or large circular movements over the object or the area to be plated. To accelerate the deposition, electrolytes with high precious metal content are particularly made for pen electroplating. Our gold electrolyte Midas even enables the direct gold plating of stainless steel without prior activation

Currentless refining

With our products Gold Star and Silver Star, gold or silver plating in the bath is easily possible without applying electricity and without the aid of a variety of accessories. Apart from a heating plate, no other equipment is required for the deposition of elemental gold and silver on nickel and non-ferrous metals. Our silver gel even allows you to silver plate copper and brass directly by applying it with a brush or sponge. For example, you can write on a copper sheet with silver gel and then create real silver lettering through the silver deposition. There are almost no limits to your creativity here. Note, however, that the layers created by silver gel and star products are only thin and are primarily suitable for decorative purposes. Electroless coating is not intended for much used surfaces.

Frequently asked questions

Aluminium and titanium are suitable for anodising. We recommend our products exclusively for aluminium.

Our products cover the majority of the most common aluminium alloys. However, the industry is constantly evolving. For an overview table of compositions suitable for anodising, please see our anodising guide.

In this case, the concentration of the colour solution is not high enough. We recommend 10g/L. Also possible: the alloy is not or only insufficiently suitable for anodising. You can find an overview table on this in our instructions for anodising.

When anodising, the surface area of the workpiece is calculated in dm² and multiplied by 1.5. This gives the necessary amperage for your project. As soon as you set this on your machine, the voltage regulates itself automatically.

No. Only the aluminium piece and titanium wire may be immersed in the solution with the anodising bath. The alligator clips must not come into contact with the bath.

Our bluing agents primarily create a black coloured surface that is not a real coating but inhibits the existing surface of steel, stainless steel or aluminium. Corrosion protection is only achieved if the blackened layer is oiled or painted at the end.

This is most likely because the remnants of the bluing agent have not been rinsed off cleanly enough. This causes components of the bluing to crystallise on the surface and form a reddish-brown layer that looks like rust. Make sure that residues of the bluing liquid are completely removed at the beginning and end and that the surface is clean. Repeat the blackening process and wash off the bluing chemical carefully and completely at the end!

If the blackened layer does not last, there are several options. 
1. If the surface is nano-coated or covered with an invisible clear varnish, this layer must be removed so that the bluing liquid can adhere.
2. The surface may be made of an incompatible material. 
3. The pre-treatment may not have been carried out thoroughly enough. Bluing will only work on a clean surface, free of dust, dirt and other contaminants. 
4. The bluing agent may have been too concentrated. Depending on the product, you may dare to dilute it with water.

Our product range currently allows us to burnish the following materials: Iron, steel, zinc, aluminium and various non-ferrous metals. Check the product detail page for compatibility with the material you have.

If the patination does not last, there are several options. 
1. If the surface is nano-coated or covered with an invisible clear varnish, this layer must be removed so that the patination can adhere. 
2. The surface may be made of an incompatible material. 
3. The pre-treatment may not have been carried out thoroughly enough. The patination will only work on a clean surface, free of dust, dirt and other contaminants. 
4. The patination may have been too concentrated. Depending on the product, you may dare to dilute with water.

You have to multiply the current density recommended for the respective electrolyte by the surface area of the workpiece in dm² and then get the required current intensity. The voltage will readjust when the current is set accordingly.

This varies from electrolyte to electrolyte. If the anodes are made of the same material as the salt in the electrolyte solution (e.g. copper, nickel, silver, zinc), the salt content remains constant because the anode dissolves slowly but steadily. However, the electrolyte is still contaminated at some point and brighteners (if present) are used up.

Certain electrolytes can be diluted. The gold electrolytes Flash and Midas can be diluted in a ratio of up to 1:1. However, the speed of deposition and the shine then decrease rapidly.

The anodes should be at least as large as the surface of the object to be coated. The supply of 2 anodes (left and right) has been proven to give better results.

If you want to coat from both sides at the same time, you should place an anode in the tank on each side and place the workpiece in the middle. The deposition is then more uniform than with the method with only one anode.

The depletion of the electrolyte can be recognised by the slowing deposition. The colouring of the gold electrolyte Midas, for example, does not indicate that the electrolyte has been used up.

For gold and palladium: stainless steel or graphite. For copper (basic and acidic): Copper. For nickel electrolyte: nickel. For silver electrolyte: silver. For zinc electrolyte: zinc. For chrome electrolyte: not compatible with bath electroplating.

No, unfortunately that is not possible. Our chrome electrolyte only works in conjunction with the brush process (tampon electroplating).

Yes, this is possible with the help of our conductive copper varnish. The object is sprayed or brushed with copper conductive paint or copper conductive lacquer spray, which first creates a metallic layer. The object is then given its final conductivity in a galvanic bath with acidic bright copper electrolyte. This creates a continuous, conductive copper layer that can then be further treated like any other copper layer, e.g. by silver plating.

Rust Piranha can normally be painted over or treated further. However, please check on an inconspicuous spot whether the rust converter is compatible with your paint colour.

Our products for electroless silver plating only deposit on copper and brass as a base, as the products can only deposit silver with these materials. Accordingly, the products for electroless silver plating can NOT be deposited on silver. If copper or brass are coated, a thin silver layer of 200 - 300 nm is produced, which is intended for decorative purposes only. If you want a thicker silver layer on your object, the only process left is electroplating!

No, unfortunately that is not possible with these products.

In principle, it is possible to gold-plate some aluminium alloys with the Gold Star, but so far this only works with a few compositions. The success of the application can therefore not be guaranteed for all aluminium alloys.

The zinc object must be clean and free of residues such as dirt, oil or particles. The object is then degreased, e.g. with the TIFOO Galvano Degreaser. Depending on the size, the object is immersed in the yellow chromate for a few minutes. 3 minutes is a good guideline.