Commercial demand for people who polish silver?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I recently spent two days polishing the family silver. Not just knives and forks, but sterling platters, serving dishes, loving cups, vases and ornamental boxes. Most of it has come down in my husband’s family and he was smart to marry me because I love polishing silver. There’s just something about seeing the tarnish come off on the buffing rag that brings joy to my soul. I love working steadily away on ornamental chasing with q-tips, a dental probe and a a soft toothbrush. It’s tremendously satisfying to see the original beauty of old pieces restored.

Now that my own cache is gleaming, I’m itching to get my hands - and polishing cloths - on someone else’s. Do you suppose people would pay me to clean their silver?

If there is, how would I advertise? I thought about charging $25 per hour, while providing my own supply of polishes and rags. Does that sound reasonable? And I’d only work on sterling, because silver plate wears off when you rub it too hard. Oh, and I like cleaning copper and brass, too.

Any advice on how to proceed? Would I need to be bonded?

2

I’d think that people would be afraid you’re trying to steal their silver and unwilling to let a stranger in their home.

3

Seems to me it would be a very seasonal thing. People only break out the silver for really special occasions, like fancy holiday gatherings. You might have more work than you can handle from October-December, and practically nothing to do the rest of the year.

4

In this case, perhaps just start with friends and family. Advertise to your Facebook friends that this is what you want to do, and if they need their silver polished give you a holler. They can also pass your name on to friends.

5

Oh, limited demand would be fine. I don’t need income. I just thought it’d be a hoot to get paid for something I like doing anyway. :slight_smile:

6

The easiest way to hate something you like to do is to make a business out of it.

7

We have a tea set that gets polished once a year. I’d pay you those rates to do it, as I do not get the same pleasure.

So while it may be a boutique industry, there’s no reason you can’t hunt for more tarnish to satisfy your lust. Onward!

8

Ignore the skeptics. Finding something you love, and then figuring out how to make a living at it (or even a little side career), is a wonderful thing.

There are metal finishing shops, plating shops, and the like. I’m not sure how they advertise or what they call themselves, but my dear old grandmother took me to one over forty years ago and I still remember all the brass fireplace sets, lamps, tea sets, and whatnot all over the shop, some of it dull and some of it absolutely sparkling. Just think of things that are shiny metal, then ask yourself where you’d go to try to get them rejuvenated. You could work in one of these places, or do piecework for them. I imagine they tend to favor large pieces they can polish with machines, and they’d probably be very happy to send detailed handwork your way.

You might also ask some of the companies that make polishing products if they could clue you in to where they’re sold (either specifically or in a generic way). One such company I’ve just learned about and bought from is Dico (http://www.dicoproducts.com). They make buffing wheels, rouge, and other such things.

I think you are describing a niche situation within the metal finishing industry, as a cottage business. And, I don’t know why people would be particularly afraid of you stealing their silver – couldn’t any of the people traipsing through their house do that?

9

No advice; just wanted to say that I hope you find marvelous success in this. :slight_smile:

10

You might check out the book “Metal Polishing Tips, Tricks and Techniques” by Michael L. Pierich. It’s aimed at a different sort of application, like on motorcycles and hot rod engines, but it is short and interesting and above all is about polishing metal.

11

I wish you lived close to me. I polish, but it doesn’t gleam. And fork tines!!! I hate them!
I even resorted to the baking soda, boiling water and aluminum foil, but it didn’t work well.

Can you recommend any products? I know elbow grease is one.

12

Me too, although my silver is plate. I’d sign a release, I promise!

The only bright side about how much I hate silver polishing is that I put it off so long after Thanksgiving that I still had all the silver really handy for Christmas (although not as shiny as it should have been). I can’t put it off much longer, though.

13

Put an ad on craigslist and see what happens. It’s free and more effective than just speculating here.

14

Job’s job

In August, an august patriarch
Was reading an ad in Reading, Mass.
Long-suffering Job secured a job
To polish piles of Polish brass.

15

Love the idea, a kindred spirit.

I run a machine shop with a friend. 40 years ago his grandfather started the buisness. Here and there he made brass parts to repair lamps and other sundries for some antique dealers. One thing led to another and he started doing all sorts or repairs and restorations.

We picked it up again about 5 years ago. I do a lot of polishing and restoring. All word of mouth and having a couple of big windows on the front of our building with some of our handmade solid brass student lamps on display.

There’s a catholic church here in our little town. At first we started with a few candlesticks. Then some more, then the insence burners, suboriums, chalaces, bells, you name it. pretty much every bit of brass or bronze in the church is gleaming now. The priests’ friends are starting to bring us stuff from other churches now too.

There is a big difference here I want to point out. Scale. I have a pair of big ass pedestal buffing motors, wheels and compounds of all sorts. The Dremel tool is my best friend for nooks and crannies.

As a finish we spray lacquer on everything to keep them from tarnishing again anytime soon. It’s about $100 a gallon. Not something to do in a house. Need a great vent hood and fans for ventalation. (and spray guns and a compressor…) However I’d never put that on anything that will ever be used for food.

Oh yeah some (most) of old candlesticks, lamps, brass beds, etc. had a varnish or schellac or lacquer on them. To try to brute force polish past that is very time consuming. I have a few buckets with some different mixes I keep as our trick up the sleeve to soak parts in. So be on the lookout for old coating, will trip you up.

OK, I’m rambling all over here. Church stuff, I’ve seen a lot of chalaces that are plated. I’m reluctant to do them because I’ll wear through the plating in a minute. Frankly it’s not worth my time to hand polish them. Been asked about a silver tea set, said no for the same reason. An idea where somebody like you would fit in.

One last thing, pewtar. Scream in horror and run far away.

16

I thought that maybe you could contact local home cleaning services and suggest your service as an ‘add on’ they could advertise to their customers.
You’d probably need to be bonded.
As a safety precaution you could take front and back pictures of the larger pieces and group pictures of the silver settings before you do the job. When the job is finished you could have the customer sign off the picture as verification that the job was finished and silver returned. This might be a critical inventory issue if someone has a large collection.

I just don’t see large silver collections anymore sadly. Since those brothers (what were their names?) in the 70s tried to corner the silver market, a lot of families sold their heirlooms off for quick cash.

17

One piece of advice if you ever advertise door-to-door. Do not wink when asking “Hey, mister, can I polish your candlestick?”.