an etchant for and method of removing a glass coating on a metallic wire is provided . the etchant comprises an acid solution having metal ions contained therein . the metal ions prevent the acid solution from pitting or damaging the metallic wire , while allowing the acid solution to effectively etch and remove the glass coating . in one embodiment , a fluorine - based acid solution can be used . in another embodiment , a glass coated , metal alloy microwire is etched and the metal ions added to the etchant are chosen to be the same as the majority constituent element in the metal alloy . the glass coating can be either removed in full or only partially removed .