Are we referring to the Mapleshade Silclear?
I was always curious about that stuff. There seems to be an equal amount of positive/negative experiences with it.
In the beginning like most I never cleaned and was surprised at the difference when I did. Then for several years it was a twice a year thing. Then once a year, then every few years.... well this all started 1990-something so a lot of time. I've tried probably about a dozen different things over the years. Not only audiophile stuff like XLO, Caig, etc but also stuff like Flitz gun cleaner and various silver polishes and solvent type cleaners. Sometimes cleaned to bare metal, sometimes then added a conditioner, sometimes just the conditioner. Again, its not like I have some obsession with this stuff. This is like doing it 20 or so times over 30 years.
After all that turns out if you haven't cleaned in 6-12 months (or ever) then just about anything will be an improvement. You could rub real good with plain old cotton and alcohol- or even cotton alone!- and notice an improvement. Mostly a nice improvement in top end extension, with a little less grain, less glare, and a little more detail. Not huge but worth the trouble.
Quicksilver and Silclear are colloidal silver. There's more stuff mixed in there of course. Not that it matters. What it is only matters when you're trying to copy or make your own. For us listeners the only thing that matters is how it sounds.
All the many different things I tried, they all are pretty much the same. Enough so I put them all in the same category. The silver stuff right in along with all the others. Its a lot of work tearing a system apart to do this. Which is why only one time did I try this back to back. Even then it wasn't the whole system but just speaker cables, power cords, and one interconnect. That was when I knew for sure the main benefit is just cleaning. Because there just isn't much (if any) difference between them. In other words when I say just plain alcohol or cotton, its because yeah, that really does work about as good as any of the cleaners/conditioners. Including, yes, the silvers.
Then when you allow for people who won't read directions, klutzes who can't apply correctly even if they do, and wanna bees who couldn't hear the difference even if there is one, which altogether we're talking a big chunk of people, its no surprise if there's "an equal amount of positive/negative". Remember- if you've cleaned, you've cleaned. Doesn't matter with what. So if you've cleaned and then try something like Silclear, of course you're gonna be disappointed. But if you haven't ever cleaned and try it of course you're gonna be impressed. The trick that comes with experience is realizing it wasn't the particular product, per se, it was the cleaning.
At least that's the way it was, and is, with everything other than Total Contact. TC is completely different.