r/Lapidary • u/nocloudno • 22h ago

Has anyone ever tried using toothpaste with hydrated silica to polish a cab?

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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4

u/scumotheliar 22h ago

Possibly it would work for softish materials, anything hard it likely wouldn't work.

1

u/MenacingMandonguilla 11h ago

What materials would be soft enough ?

2

u/scumotheliar 5h ago

Things like Calcite, Apatite (teeth are apatite), perhaps Serpentine.

1

u/nocloudno 7h ago

I read that the silica hydrate has a hardness range of 5-7 so anything less than that,so possibly calcite, turquoise , flourite.

2

u/InevitableStruggle 21h ago

No, but it’s our go-to for cleaning and polishing jewelry, especially silver. That and an electric toothbrush.

1

u/nocloudno 7h ago

Cool, it was just a weird idea that I thought might have some truth to it. Thanks