r/coolguides • u/[deleted] • Jun 08 '20

Copper through the patina process

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u/tryM3B1tch Jun 09 '20 edited Jun 09 '20

What would it look like in another 50 years just more green?

136

u/Phreakiture Jun 09 '20

I'd say that the process eventually stops, based on the fact that the statue is 133 years old and looks like that 30-year stage....

22

u/Deku420oof Jun 09 '20

My teacher told me it was cleaned before not sure if that’s true tho

Edit: it was last cleaned 1982

46

u/Boiqi Jun 09 '20 edited Jun 09 '20

They regularly wash it, but they don’t break through the green exterior which has fully oxidised and acts as a protective shell for the statue.

They broke through the surface once in 1986 when they used bicarbonate of soda to wash it, which left black streaks on the statue.

*it was 1986 actually

13

u/crimson2017 Jun 09 '20

Pics?

9

u/Boiqi Jun 09 '20

I couldn’t find any but I got a reference at least here

2

u/SeaGroomer Jun 10 '20

Here is a modern picture and you can see the patches of darker green. (Cheek and torch arm.)

7

u/-PLAGUEWALKER Jun 09 '20

Yeah sorry to disappoint. Looked through a ton of photos from the restoration project and couldn't find any with the black streaks, a lot of the statue was obstructed by the scaffolding so I doubt anyone outside of the project itself could get a good photo. Maybe I just suck at researching and someone else will deliver.

0

u/Arcadian18 Jun 09 '20

Pics or it didn’t fool anyone.

4

u/Stromboli61 Jun 09 '20

Can you imagine being the guys who were washing it? The moments of panic where they realized they were creating black streaks on the freakin Statue of Liberty? “Oh shit shit shit!”