I just got done polishing my everyday flatware, which is old silverplate. I finished up my bottle of silver polish, and thought I’d ask you all for opinions before I bought a new one. The main things that I use silver polish for are the aforementioned silver plate and some assorted silver jewelry. Nothing is “fine” or valuable. My criteria are that the product do the job quickly, easily, preferably cheaply, and not be too damaging to the silver.
(Full Metal Lotus discusses care of fine silver in this thread.)
I’ve been using Hagerty’s Silversmith’s Polish. It’s pretty good. From looking on the site, however, it looks like I should have been using Hagerty’s Silver Foam instead, as it’s supposed to be a cleaner and tarnish remover for frequently used silver.
I’ve used Tarn-X before, and it’s great for certain applications. But as I understand it, it’s really very harsh and not suitable for everyday silver cleaning.
I’ve also used Wenol, which is supposedly beloved of museum curators and so forth. It takes a long time and a lot of rubbing to get it to work. And it smells rank. It’s probably great if you’re cleaning the Mildenhall Treasure or something, but I didn’t find it suitable for everyday use.
I know a lot of people do the aluminum foil and baking soda trick, but I feel the cons strongly outweigh the pros of that method. And Full Metal Lotus says “This is definitely NOT recommended.”
I am not a fan of silver polish for nearly anything. Sure its just your everyday flatware today, but someday it may be a family heirloom, which once belonged to the venerable Green Bean.
Shame Green bean wore it down so badly by using silver polish.
By Polishing compounds, I meant “silver polish” type products. Almost all of them contain micro abrasives which wear away at the surface of the silver. And anything which causes wear is a bad thing, conservationally speaking.
A true conservational approach to any silver item is to isolate it from the causes of tarnish in the first place. The main culprit is sulfur compounds in the air or food (eggs, for instance).
Silver should be cleaned with warm water with a drop or two of dish sopa, rinsed well and dried instantly with a soft, lint free cotton cloth. It should then be wrapped in a silver cloth/Birkes cloth (which contains microscopic silver wires which act as “magnets” to the sulfur compounds, grabbing them before they get to your silver). Obviously, placing them in a suitable box/container is important too. Humidity for storage should be as low as possible,
One last note, I have never heard of Wenlos being used in a museum setting.
The only silver I have to brighten up is jewelry. Rings, necklaces, earrings, etc. I usually just pull them out of the jewelry box, polish them up with some toothpaste, wash them off, then put them on. Nice and shiny and new looking!
Perhaps I should have been more clear… It is long past the stage of being a family heirloom. It’s quite dinged and damaged already. It has no resale value. Nobody wants it, and I can assure you that nobody will ever want it, as there is plenty of real silver flatware in the family to go around. Besides, it’s butt-ugly. I’m just using it for convenience until I get around to getting some decent stainless. It would have been chucked years ago but for a slightly pack-rattish tendency that runs in my family.
And while the conservationist approach is appropriate for a lot of things, it isn’t really applicable to my $10 silver hoop earrings that I wear every day!
I’m not sure I was aware there were brands of silver polish other than Hagerty’s. It is entirely possible we have had a bottle of it (I mean literally the same bottle) in our family for generations, along with the silver.
I also wrap some of my silver pieces in Saran Wrap when storing. I vaguely worry that keeping something wrapped in Saran for years at a go might not be good for it, so I do it more for those pieces we use somewhat frequently, say at least every few months.
I’ve always used Wright’s for polishing the inexpensive silver that crosses my path. I prefer the liquid to the paste. And it doesn’t smell as bad as Tarn-X.
Perhaps I should have been more clear… It is long past the stage of being a family heirloom. It’s quite dinged and damaged already. It has no resale value. Nobody wants it, and I can assure you that nobody will ever want it, as there is plenty of real silver flatware in the family to go around. Besides, it’s butt-ugly. I’m just using it for convenience until I get around to getting some decent stainless. It would have been chucked years ago but for a slightly pack-rattish tendency that runs in my family.