I am not sure if this is the right place to ask this but I was already to antique some sterling and opened my container of LOS chunks.  It looked like it had changed color from the orangey state to light grey lumps.  I have always heard of the mixture after adding the water becoming unusable but never the actual LOS.  I guess it does.  Is this normal?  Odd that I have never read anything or remember, at least, reading anything about the actual chunks becoming unusable. 

Guess, since the place I got this a year ago is over an hour's drive away, I will have to revert back to my Silver Black.  Unfortunately, I have strung my (330) 3mm silver beads on fishing line and know the hard way that fishing line and Silver Black do not mix!  So back to restringing on thread. 

Thanks.

Jane.

Hi Jane. The LOS that I bought already had the greyish, greenish color and that's the way I used it and it worked well. I am not sure if mine already was old then, or if it makes a difference or not.

Thanks for your response.  When I bought it, it was an orangey color and it turned this greyish color over time in a sealed container.  I did drop a small chunk in hot water but it didn't dissolve or turn the color of the water that lemony color.  Just had little pieces floating around even after stirring.  There is no expiry date on the container.  So, there must be a shelf-life?  I threw it out.