I learnt about this nifty flux when I was working on my Poetry collection:
The frame of the pendant is made from 0.6mm thick silver sheet. I had the frames cut and marked with laser technology. The only problem was securing the folds, as they had become weak. The options were to laser weld the fold lines or solder. I knew laser wouldn’t give me the clean finish I wanted so it was the soldering option. However with soldering there was a big chance fire stains would appear. To counteract this my lecturer (Jo Pond) introduced me to Argo-Tect. A flux, which protects silver from fire stains during the soldering process.
All I needed to do was put take the required amount of Argo-Tect flux and then mix in some methylated spirit until the mixture became creamy. Then brush the newly mixed solution onto my silver, avoiding the area for soldering. Finally, as normal, I’d flux the joins for soldering and place my strips of solder, heat up the whole piece and let it cool before putting into the pickle.
Wah-lah, my frames were clean and no fire stains.
N.B I think this is only applicable on silver.

