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The thread’s purpose was, and remains, an effort to provide accurate, honest, and non-commercial information to those interested in making the most effective form of colloidal Silver.
The biggest problem with colloidal Silver is its name. If we call something colloidal, it merely means that it is held in suspension. For example, milk is colloidal butterfat. As it is homogenized, the fat particles will tend to stay in suspension because the particles have been agitated to the point where they are small enough to not combine and rise to the top.
Now, what does this have to do with making colloidal Silver? It’s not hard to understand why we want the smallest possible particles of Silver. Let’s face it. We don’t want any more metal of any kind in our body other than what we need to stay well or heal a wound or infection. For a given total weight of the metal, small particles will result in a much greater surface area than large particles. For Silver to affect the microbe, it has to come into contact with that microbe. For the sake of simplicity, let’s consider our particles as spheres. If our particle is 100 nm in diameter, it will weigh the same as about 10,000 1 nm particles. What would have a better chance of getting to the bacteria we want to kill? 10,000 or one?
“Colloidal silver” is sold with ratings of parts per million “PPM.” That is the ratio of the water’s weight versus the Silver contained and suspended in the water. This measurement is made by the method of atomic absorption spectrophotometer. A sample is burned, and the light emitted includes spectral lines for Silver, the amplitude of which gives an indication of the parts per million, by weight. There is nothing in this method to distinguish between ions, “charged” particles, and uncharged.
It is easy for an unscrupulous colloidal Silver manufacturer to make and advertise “colloidal silver” with strengths of 20, 30, 50, or 500 PPM. All they have to do is generate large particles and coat them with a substance lighter than water to stay in suspension. These solutions will have a color as the larger particles will block out portions of the ambient light, trying to shine through the water. The larger the particles, the more color, beginning with light yellow. There is real evidence to suggest that these solutions will do you harm, leading to a condition called argyria.
As you read through the thread, you will find numerous citations of serious, peer-reviewed studies illustrating silver ions’ superiority in killing bacteria to silver particles. The number of silver ions is measured in terms of electrical conductivity. When this thread started, the only instruments with the ability to measure this were quite expensive. The price of these has come down to a remarkable degree. A device capable of measuring ionic PPM within one or two ppm is now available on eBay for less than $10. If you’re going to make colloidal silver “ionic,” one of these should be the first thing you purchase. The second thing is to make sure that you get genuine 9999 pure silver wire with a certificate of analysis from a reputable source. Other than that, all you need is a voltage source and a resistor to limit the current. A multimeter with the 2 V scale and an additional 1K resistor will allow you to measure your current in microamps. That is all you need to make perfect, clear colloidal Silver. With a certain amount of experimentation, you will be able to make your colloidal Silver of a quality equal to commercial manufacturers’ offerings.