If you’re going to make colloidal silver, make it right. Don’t cut corners, and don’t fall for snake-oil shortcuts. Silver, in its colloidal form, has been a friend to humanity for thousands of years, saving lives long before some chemical lab rats slapped patents on synthetics and called them antibiotics. But if you make it wrong, you’re not helping yourself. You’re just making muddy water. Let’s talk about what it takes to do it right.
The Foundation: Purity of Ingredients
If your water isn’t pure, your silver sure won’t be either. Start with steam-distilled water, not reverse osmosis, not spring water, and certainly not tap water. Tap water contains chlorine, fluoride, and metals that react with silver, creating unwanted compounds instead of the pure particles your body needs.
Next, your silver rods or wires should be .9999 pure silver, nothing less. Some people sell .925 sterling silver rods, thinking they’re doing you a favor. They’re not. Sterling silver contains copper, nickel, and other metals, which will leach into your solution. And your body doesn’t need more toxic metals, it already has enough trouble from the environment.
Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
Before you even think about firing up your colloidal silver generator, clean your rods with a Scotch-Brite pad, followed by a rinse in 99% isopropyl alcohol, and then distilled water. Any oils from your fingers or previous uses could contaminate your batch.
And keep your glassware spotless. I mean, really spotless. Rinse everything with distilled water. No soap residue, no tap water spots. You’re making medicine, not a swamp brew.
The Right Electrical Current
Forget the 9V battery nonsense. That’s hobbyist stuff. Using low-voltage battery power to make colloidal silver can result in larger silver particles, which may not remain suspended effectively and could accumulate in tissues. Over time, excessive ingestion of such silver can lead to argyria (a coloring of the skin).
To produce smaller, more stable silver particles, a controlled power source with regulated current is recommended. Use a constant current power supply, typically producing 0.5 to 1 milliamp per square centimeter of electrode surface area. This controls the release of silver ions and keeps particle size small, which is key to colloidal silver’s effectiveness.
Your voltage will vary depending on the water’s resistance, but your current should stay constant. Watch the amperage, not the voltage.
Time and Temperature Matter
Some folks try to speed up the process by heating the water. Big mistake. Heat causes larger particles to form. You want cool or room-temperature water, and you want patience.
Depending on your current and the size of your silver rods, your brew might take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours. Slow and steady wins the silver race, folks.
Keep the Light Out
Silver ions are light-sensitive. If you expose your freshly-made colloidal silver to sunlight or strong artificial light, the particles can clump together and fall out of suspension. That’s why you store it in amber or cobalt blue glass bottles, some wine bottles will work. Plastic? Forget it. Glass only.
Measuring Strength: Go Low and Go Slow
Most of your health needs will be met with colloidal silver in the 3 to 15 parts per million (ppm) range. You can use a laser pointer test to see the Tyndall effect, the scattering of light by particles in suspension (5 ppm and above), or get yourself a reliable ppm meter designed for silver solutions. But remember, stronger is not better. Too strong, and you’ve got a cleaning solution and may have larger particles that don’t work as well.
Keep It Simple: No Additives, No Salts
Some folks drop in a pinch of salt to get the process going faster. What they don’t tell you is that it forms silver chloride, another compound entirely, not colloidal silver, and it is unsafe to use. You want pure colloidal silver, no chemical shortcuts.
Final Thoughts from the Old Man
Look, we’re living in a world where Big Pharma wants you to think that only their chemicals can heal you. But colloidal silver was around long before they put a price tag on sickness.
Between civilizations and before our latest discovery of electricity, the local shaman would take a pure silver container filled with water and place it on a hill where lightning was known to strike during an electrical storm. After confirming that the container was struck, the result was healing water (colloidal silver).
Just respect the process. Make it pure, make it small-particle, and make it in love. That’s what this world needs more of: clean remedies and clean intentions.
If you’re going to put something in your body, make sure it’s the real deal. Your cells will thank you.
~ Herb Roi Richards