Home Electroplating Kits

Electroplating Kit

Contents of a Home Electroplating Kit

The content and hazards depend on the type of coating.  However, there are some general products one needs for any electroplating project.

• 3 plastic buckets, containers or garbage cans (one for precleaning, one for plating and one for rinsing)
• Degreaser/Surfactant
• Air pump and tube
• Gloves
• Goggles
• Power supply / battery
• Anodes (silver for silver coating, gold for goldplating, etc)
• Water heater (required for certain coating to speed up plating process)
• Acid descaling solution
• Electrolyte Solution (specific for each type of plating)
• pH strip to measure solution pH
• Buffer and caustic to maintain pH
• Timer/Watch
• Microbalance (optional)

The steps to use the home plating kit are the same as the electroplating that takes place in industry. The metal material must first be buffed, polished, degreased, and rinsed to remove any dirt and unwanted debris from the metal material surface. Then the metal material needs to be acid descaled and activated with battery acid. Note, certain material may require two different types of coating.