Tuesday, January 20, 2009

TIP FOR CLEANING SILVER

Light tarnish is easy to remove from silver. Wash the silver with a non-lemon-scented phosphate-free detergent before tarnish starts to discolor the silver. Another cleaner for light tarnish is a non-abrasive, unscented, aloe-free hand sanitizer like Purell. Rub the surface with a cotton ball and dry with a cotton dish towel. For darker tarnish, a silver polish will be needed (from Jeff Herman, silversmith, www.silversmithing.com/silver).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wright's Silver Cream is a wonderful, creamy, non-abrasive polish for tarnished silver. It is the best that I have found. That is the reason that I started stocking it in 4# tubs and selling it online. That size container will last a long time. I usually go through a container every year, but I polish a lot of silver. I have sold as many a 16 tubs to one customer who has a catering company. As Martha says, "It is a good thing."
Alice Sisk, Something Old

Anonymous said...

Wright's is actually somewhat abrasive... but it is good stuff, I use it to make silver jewelry sparkle when doing catalog work.

Shirley Sue said...

Shirley Sue sez:
Any paste or cream silver polish contains an abrasive - and contined polishing over time will remove those all important engraved names and dates. I advise a clear liquid tarnish remover. it is not harmful to the metal. I like Goddard's. Pour some into a custard cup and use a toothbrush for cleaning. That way, you can have the areas you want to be shiny and the areas you want left dark for contrast.