problems with jewelry cleaner!

[Polly]

The flux sounds like a good possibility.
Hindsight says, rinse thoroughly to remove previous chemicals before dipping in jewelry cleaner.  

What kind of jewelry cleaner was it?
Or how old was it?

I've had some old silver cleaner make my silver sort of yellow when the silver was dipped for too short of a time.  
It was kind of like it "redistributed" the tarnish instead of actually cleaning it.
When I soaked the charm bit longer, and swished it around a bit, it finally came clean.

I also had to rinse it very thoroughly, for it to remain untarnished.

--Polly

[Russ Nobbs]

Was your cleaner something like Noxon Silver Cleaner?  Was it marketed specificly for cleaning silver?

There are several brands that contain a compound that dissolves silver tarnish. They work quickly. You dip the item in it, pull it out and rinse it  If it is this type of silver cleaner the trick is to rinse it A LOT. Rinse it in warm water for much longer than you think required.  

This type of cleaner contains "Thiourea" and tends to leave a yellow tint if not really well rinsed after using.

[Metalman]

Candy,  You did not say what type of soldering you were doing.
If you are doing hard soldering on sterling, you really should use a pickling solution before you go on to any other chemical cleaners.  Then rinse well.
If you are using a soft solder  [like Sta-Brite]  you should rinse well and possibly do a mild brushing with baking soda before going to another cleaner.  Soft solder fluxes are frequently mild acids which may interact with the cleaner you are using.

[Candy]

Here's a newbie again!  Just finished soldering some charms to a charm bracelet---all sterling silver---then dipped into my jewelry cleaner solution---pulled it out and it had all turned yellow!!!  Spent the next half hour polishing each link and charm and finally got it all off.  What happened?  Is my silver not really sterling?  Could there have been a reaction with some flux residue after soldering???  Thanks for any help.

[Candy]

Thanks Polly---I think you're probably right!  The cleaner was Good Housekeeping guaranteed and I had just bought it, so don't think it was the cleaner's fault.  Have learned my lesson the hard way---rinse off flux before dipping in cleaner.  Thanks for your help!  

[Candy]

Russ, the cleaner is Connoisseur brand which, to my surprise, says nothing on the label about silver---refers to cleaning gold, platinum, precious stones, etc.  Also label does not give active ingredient.  The bracelet and charms turned yellow in the solution almost immediately, but other items I've dipped came out bright and beautiful.  But maybe it was thiourea residue as you said.  If this happens again, I'll try rinsing thoroughly with warm water.  Thanks, Russ!

[Candy]

Metalman, am using Sta-brite flux.  I'll just bet that was the problem---reaction between the cleaner and the flux.  I'll sure rinse well next time!  Thanks,  Metalman, Russ and Polly, for all your help!!