Hand Polishing

• 1). Dip the end of an old T-shirt into some red jewelers rouge. You can also buy a special cloth that comes dipped in jewelers rouge.
  
  
• 2). Rub the cloth dipped in rouge over the metal piece. When rubbing, follow the wire pattern, going with the grain of the coils and weaves of the wire. Avoid touching the area with your fingers or you will leave fingerprints. Instead, hold the wire with the clean, soft rag.
  
  
• 3). Buff the rouge with a polishing cloth. This method will remove the tarnish and give your wire a high finish.
  
  
• 4). Apply some toothpaste onto a cloth to finish cleaning the piece. Remove the toothpaste and rouge by rinsing the wire jewelry in warm water.
  
  

Dremel Polishing

• 1). Fit your Dremel with a buffing pad the size of a quarter or wider. The wider the buffing pad the less likely your wire will become caught. Keep the buffing pad in place with the mandrel that the tool came with. The mandrel is about the size of a big nail.
  
  
• 2). Go outdoors or a place where you don't mind spreading the rouge. Put on a respirator and goggles to protect your eyes and lungs. The rouge has a tendency to fly all over when applied to a Dremel tool.
  
  
• 3). Apply jewelers rouge to the buffing pad. Turn on the Dremel at the slowest speed possible and put a tiny amount of rouge onto the buffing pad.
  
  
• 4). Buff the wire gently with the Dremel. This method is better for polishing sterling silver, because the Dremel can burn through gold-filled wires, but not sterling silver. Be careful when working around any stones or beads so you don't ruin or scratch them.
  
  
• 5). Remove any excess rough area with a soft cloth. Only use the cloth to hold your jewelry to prevent your fingerprints from showing on the wire.