Electroless plating does not require electricity, but electrolytic does. The electroplating process needs a conductive base, an electrical current and an electrolyte bath. We must thoroughly clean the base material before submerging it into the electrolyte solution. Along with the substrate, we plunge a bar of the metal used for plating. This metal, the anode, helps to replenish the metal ions in the bath as they deposit onto the base. Next, we connect both the base and plating metal to electricity. The positive wire connects to the anode while the negative wire attaches to the piece we plate.