Nickel Smart Alert - 2 pk

I purchased this product a while ago and have been testing a ton of stuff with it. I saw one of the reviews that recommended using vinegar prior to testing to ensure you could get an accurate result. I tried both ways and found that the vinegar did get me a result faster but the result was the same either way for every item I tested. It is difficult to get 3 drops exactly, so I am glad I ordered 2 bottles rather than 3 so I won’t run out any time soon.I wore sealed eyewear, gloves, & a respirator when using this product since it really hurt my eyes when I first came into contact with the package. I recommend wearing the eyewear and respirator when using this liquid if you have the ppe available. A well ventilated area, gloves, and something to catch drips are non-negotiable.When I ordered 2 bottles, my first package had leaked in transit through the first ziplock bag. Luckily it is double bagged so it did not get into the mailer. It was still unexpectedly painful to open the bag though, hence my earlier ppe recommendation. The seller was very responsive when I reached out and quickly sent 1 replacement bottle.I would 100% recommend this product to anyone who is concerned about nickel content.

I have had nickel issues for years and only recently went to an allergist who confirmed I have a severe case. They recommended I buy this product to see where my issues with my eyes are coming from. I just used this product and was amazed. Some of my household items it instantly turned bright pink, others I rubbed for 15-20 seconds and it either showed nothing or a slight pink. It’s so interesting to see what is full on nickel and what only has trace amounts. Will be purchasing the nail polish item to cover some things. Thank you! Oh, easy to use.

Full disclosure: I'm a little salty about this because my order was improperly packaged, causing one of the two bottles to leak into the outer container (a sealed bag). The fumes when I tried to open the package were awful. (Strong smell, yes, but also enough to make my eyes burn.) I assume this was a rare packing mishap and will temper the remainder of my review on that assumption, but if others are having similar experiences PLEASE POST THEM so people can see if this is in fact a recurring defect.The testing solution works as intended. I tested it on... wait for it... a nickel (which is actually 25% nickel in copper), and the test result was a very clear positive. So now I have a way to tell if an article contains nickel, which is fundamentally what I was after.However, even without the major mishap in the packing of my particular order, the bottles they use are not a good choice in my opinion. I assume they've been chosen to save a few cents. What they are is plastic bottles with a reducer-type dropper insert. I find it very hard to dispense liquid from these accurately. I end up using too much in service of making sure I use enough, which is a problem because of waste and also because - again - the fumes are NASTY. Not above suggesting wearing some sort of mask to use this stuff.

I love the concept of this product but pretty frustrated so far. The instructions say to rub on metal and if the cotton swab turns any shade of pink, nickel is present. I rubbed on several items which I knew to contain nickel and the swab turned gray, not pink at all. This was really confusing because I wasn’t sure if the swab was picking up dust or dirt or if the item actually contained Nikel. Be aware that if you use this product on yellow gold jewelry which has been converted to white gold by dipping in rhodium, the color will be removed and you will have a yellow gold spot on your jewelry. If you were testing on a gold ring, make sure to rub on the inside, not the outside. I definitely feel this is overpriced for what you get.

First, some background: I have NOT used this product for testing jewelry. Instead, I have used it to test the nickel content of meteorite specimens, as an educational science lab experiment. Most meteorites (rocks from space that have hit the Earth) are made of, or at least contain deposits of, metal which is roughly 94-95% iron and 5-6% nickel, and trace amounts of other metals. For comparison, most natural iron ores from Earth contain no nickel, so confirming the presence of nickel in a suspected specimen is a good way of proving that it is indeed a meteorite and not an Earth rock. However, the test needs to be sensitive enough to detect nickel when it is only 5% of the composition, and from only surface contact with a very small sample area that has been polished smooth.Results: This test works quite well! I tested "iron" meteorite specimens from Argentina, Brazil, and Morocco; and "stony" meteorite (mostly rock with tiny metal deposits) specimens from the Sahara Desert... and got clear positive results from all of them! I was particularly impressed with how well this test worked on stony meteorites, which are mostly rock with sand-grain-sized flecks of metal embedded in them, only really noticeable when the meteorite is cut and polished. Even a just testing a small handful of these tiny flecks of metal produced a clear result. For comparison, I also tested hematite, a natural form of iron ore from here on Earth, which tested negative for nickel exactly as predicted.HOWEVER, the testing solution does NOT work by itself!!!!! In order to get useful results, I had to start by applying a very mild acid (I used white vinegar) to the metal, to etch or dissolve a microscopic amount of the metal. Don't worry, this does no visible damage to the specimen. The testing solution is very reliable after this is done, but not sensitive enough otherwise! When I tried it without the acid, absolutely nothing happened. Remember, though, my specimens are only 5% nickel.Here's what I did: I used a metal file to file down one corner of each meteorite, creating a small area (less than 1/4 inch in diameter) that is flat and smooth, displaying the inside material of the specimen. (You don't have to do that part with jewelry!) Then, I used a Q-tip to swab 1-2 drops of white vinegar onto the smooth area, and gave it 10-15 seconds to work on the metal. Then, I applied 1 drop of the testing solution - either directly onto the specimen, or onto another Q-tip with which I swabbed the specimen. If the specimen contained nickel, the testing solution turned pink, exactly as advertised.Note that each bottle of Nickel Alert contains 7.2 mL, or approximately 144 drops, of testing solution. There's an inner cap on the bottle designed to release exactly 1 drop at a time. So you should be able to do well over 100 tests per bottle. After an afternoon of testing several meteorites, I've barely made a dent in my supply.My only criticism is the price: Lab chemical supply companies sell the same chemical, Dimethylglyoxime, in much larger quantities for a much lower price! The catch is, those companies only sell to schools and businesses, and will not sell to an individual. Currently, Nickel Alert seems to be the only Dimethylglyoxime I can find that's being sold to individuals. So I guess they have enough of a monopoly to charge what they want.