FreeShip- Red Rouge Powder, Very Fine, Final Polish- (Prompt rebate on orders with 3 or more FreeShip items!)

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This is the well known red rouge final jewelry polish, the real original ingredient that's usually supplied in a bar or stick form to be used on motorized round buffing wheels. Also used historically as a cosmetic powder to brighten the cheeks of the ladies. It's simply (or not so simply) very fine red iron oxide! "Rouge" in French means "Red". Translated then, "red rouge" means "red red"! It's often supplied in a bar or stick form which is applied to a spinning cloth buff to which the metal is pressed against. The bar or stick is called a "polishing compound". Here's a challenge for all you DIY Guys/Girls: make your own stick or bar of red rouge compound from the red iron oxide powder, more on that below (why bother, you say?.... for me it's mostly curiosity). Many metal polishing people use the powder plus crushed walnut shells put directly in a tumbler or vibratory finisher, into which the metal objects to be polished are placed for a final bright polish done semi-automatically. Red rouge is called a "coloring" polish because some of it remains in the micropores of your gold jewelry and gives it a hint of red which gives the illusion of a brighter polish.
You will find some conflict about red rouge in statements about polish versus "cut". Most references state uncategorically that red rouge does not "cut". "Cut" here means does it remove a tiny bit of metal to flatten and smooth the metal surface to make it brighter (a "higher polish")? In all previous stages of the finishing of metals, smoothing and polishing proceeds from a coarser particle size in the polishing media (material) to a finer particle size. Another factor at play is the hardness of the polishing media. Harder metals by necessity need a harder polishing media. You can't polish a diamond with a piece of glass. It would go the other way around, the diamond (powder) would polish the glass. Red rouge (made of 100% red iron oxide) is not a particularly hard polishing media, that's why it's used on soft precious metals like gold and silver. So, the previous assertion that red rouge does not cut, or remove any metal, is it true. There are some sources which go against the majority and say, yes, to a certain extent it does remove a small or at least a microscopic amount of metal. It's a question to which both assertions are probably correct, depending on the particular red rouge, the buff, the amount of time and pressure the metal is held against the buff and other variables.

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts CAMEO art materials database says { http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Rouge } :
"A pure, finely powdered red iron oxide. Rouge is synthetically made by calcining ferrous sulfate. It ranges in color from bright red to dark. In general, the darker color indicates a harder grain. Rouge has rounded particles that burnish rather than scratch. It is used as a polishing agent for glass, metals, and jewelry. Very fine, ultrapure rouge is called jewelers' rouge."
The Wikipedia article on "Iron(III) oxide", the chemically more accurate name for red iron oxide has this to say in their "Polishing" section of the article,
{ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(III)_oxide } :
"A very fine powder of ferric oxide is known as "jeweler's rouge", "red rouge", or simply "rouge". It is used to put the final polish on metallic jewelry and lenses, and historically as a cosmetic. Rouge cuts more slowly than some modern polishes, such as cerium(IV) oxide, but is still used in optics fabrication and by jewelers for the superior finish it can produce. When polishing gold, the rouge slightly stains the gold, which contributes to the appearance of the finished piece. Rouge is sold as a powder, paste, laced on polishing cloths, or solid bar (with a wax or grease binder). Other polishing compounds are also often called "rouge", even when they do not contain iron oxide. Jewelers remove the residual rouge on jewelry by use of ultrasonic cleaning. Products sold as "stropping compound" are often applied to a leather strop to assist in getting a razor edge on knives, straight razors, or any other edged tool."
My take on this version of red iron oxide called red rouge, it's simply the smallest particles of ordinary red iron oxide the polishing supplies manufacturers can find. They further separate it into the finest particles in settling tanks. Every manufacturer has their own secret formula. The secret of the secret formula is not the red iron oxide, it's the universally spoken "wax or grease binders" when you try to find out how to make your own. Nobody tells you what waxes? What greases? It's like "inlay wax" that's used by dental workers or jewelry wax carvers; what's in it? I tried making it and now have about 20 or 30 types of wax. How many combinations can you make out of that many waxes. Take a course in math or statistics and you'll find out it's not a few hundred, not even close. I put that project aside and worked on some other things. I'll come up with a formula someday, if I live that long.
Anyway, here's the challenge: get some ordinary red iron oxide, it's pretty cheap (we sell several kinds), and mix it with a hard paraffin to start. I believe you'll find it won't work. You're going to have to add, guess what? Pine rosin!! It's sticky as hell when softened, but quite hard when cool. Depending on what you're selling your polishing compound to polish (soft zinc or hard titanium?) you need an ingredient to make it harder and wear more slowly. On the other hand if you need to dig that compound into that spinning wheel to get a lot of compound on it you're going to need a softening ingredient. The answer? I dunno... Lard? Maybe...or... beeswax! That's the ticket! And guess what? If you're making the popular food wraps out of pine rosin and beeswax you've already got the 2 important ingredients to make it either tough and hard (pine rosin) or softer (beeswax). But what's the main constituent, the "middle" ingredient that's inexpensive and gets added to every compound as the base to which the modifiers are added? Do we consider paraffin again? It's very cheap. That could be it. Proportion the modifiers right and you'll be onto something. But then again, it's weak, can be crumbly, and it's best used for candles. So, I'll leave that up to you, try it out, it may do OK. But if it does, that's only the beginning. You'll find that it's not a total disaster when applied to the buffing wheel, but it either wears away too fast or it doesn't polish as fast, it doesn't stick to the spinning wheel or it turns into a bunch of solid chunks which stick to the wheel, spin around, and get thrown off at high velocity around your shop. Those are the tricky details that get in the way of success and eureka! That's my challenge to you. Do that and you become an inventor! How many materials was it that Edison tried for his light bulb filaments. Thousands, wasn't it? Let me know when you've got it right and I'll give you a prize. Some cold cash or a coupon good for any shop in Etsy! Win the DIY Polishing Compound Contest! Good luck!!-

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Reviews

Reviews (9)

Average:

Feb 26, 2024

I love this! Very good quality, would buy again! I usually use with mineral oils to polish.

Whopper Sandwich Monarch

Dec 15, 2021

works well and fast shipping thanks

james fink

Nov 1, 2021

Great seller of this jeweler's rouge. Immediate communication, super fast shipping, and a great product. Thanks, I'll be back again!

MICHAEL

Aug 2, 2021

Good quality stuff, exactly as described.

Dax

Jan 29, 2021

Shipped very quickly. Very satisfied with the product. Will buy again.

rbwolfden72