How to clean/polish silver properly

[Zolotnik]

Hi all -

collecting silver is nice but cleaning/polishing it is not always simple or a big joy. Here is a small tutorial to make this procedure efficiently and caring, without destroying sensitive surfaces like enamel, gilding and niello. Silver should shine! The often mentioned "patina", exspecially in the USA, is nothing more than the ugly residues of pollution. Real patina are the "battlescares" an object got over the dekades of use. So please polish your silver and care for it!

What you need: A quality brand polishing cream, a paket of cotton (pure cotton, no sint.), toothpicks, a soft old toothbrush and very important: liquid tile cleaner (consisting of a mild citrus acid), maybe a Dremel polishing machine. Use with care! What you do not need: a liquid silver dip! It is too agressive and will do some damage over the time.



Now let´s start with two objects: one silver with much engraving and one silver/gilded with enamel.







First object:
Put some polishing cream on the cotton and polish in small circles. Take the toothpick to clean the engraving.






Polish always with clean new cotton. Now you think it is perfect...
Just put the object into the sink and spray it with the tile cleaner, wait several minutes and than clean with the soft toothbrush. You will be astouned how much "dirt" is left. Rinse with water, dry an polish again with cotton.


Now to the second object with the gilding and enamel. You should by no means polish it with the silver polish - all the thin layer of gold will rub away. Just spray it with tile cleaner, wait some minutes and polish with moistened cotton. Rinse, dry, polish,that´s it.





Dry and last polish



Results



Niello is polished like silver, sprayed, rinsed, dryed and polished.

I hope this is a little help.

Regards
Zolotnik

[oel]

Hi All,

Like always I do agree with Zolotnik and follow the same techniques of silver cleaning as described with beautiful illustrations by Zolotnik. Thanks.
However I only do all this, once and only once, when I have received a newly acquired silver item. After the silver has been polished, cleaned and baptized, I use the silver polishing cloth once every 3-4 months, in combination with an old tooth brush. I wrap the cloth around the tooth brush to clean engraved/embossed/frosted/etc surfaces.
Some more information about the Silver Polishing Cloth;
This is an Ultra Silver Cleaning & Polishing Cloth. These silver polishing cloths are specially impregnated with a secret formula of silver polishing agents and tarnish inhibitors that gently remove tarnish and other dull areas from silver. The special formula leaves behind an anti-tarnish treatment so that your silver remains shiny and beautiful! Made from a 100% cotton flannel cloth, these special soft cloths will never scratch or harm your finest silver jewelry, silver plate or other silver products. Use this single-ply silver polishing cloth until it is completely black! Formulated for all fine sterling silver and silver-plate.

Few more personal remarks;
Silver care techniques are like making love and people prefer different techniques to achieve the same results. Some like white shiny silver, others like a little tanned silver. I personal do not like white shiny silver or over polished silver. Today’s modern silver smiths mix a special element through the silver alloy, to prevent the silver to tarnish.
Never use power tools or super fine sandpaper to remove stubborn stains.
Patina is not only dirt and comes with age, like our skin. Dirt can be washed away with water and soap, patina not.
Never ever clean antique diamond (or other transparent stones) set in silver, with water!It may ruin the silver foil under the stone.
Wear cotton gloves if you handle your silver.
Remember most collectors like crisp & bright engravings and clear hallmarks. Over polishing or wrong silver care technique could harm the silver, the applied decorative silver art and the marks.

Previous discussions about silver care techniques created a tsunami of sometimes nasty remarks.
I wish everybody many silver and many joyful silver care days.

Regards,

Oel

[silverhammer]

Tarnish is easily removed when first noticed (usually as a yellowish tint), and will become increasingly difficult to deal with as it turns to light brown and eventually black. Occasionally washing an object with a non-lemon-scented phosphate-free detergent is preferred to waiting until tarnish forms and gets so stubborn that polishes have to be employed. (All polishes have some degree of abrasion.) If you start to see very light tarnish that can sometimes only be detected when the object is viewed against a piece of glossy white paper, Windex with vinegar or a liquid, non-abrasive, unscented, aloe-free hand sanitizer, such as Purell, may remove the tarnish. Use a large cotton ball and rotate it regularly to expose unused surfaces, as elements in the tarnish itself can be very abrasive; then dry the piece with a Selvyt cloth or cotton dish towel. Try this technique first, as it is the least abrasive of all silver cleaning methods.

* The sterling above is an example of what Windex can accomplish in removing light tarnish. Obviously, to remove the more stubborn tarnish you would use one of my recommended silver polishes. For complete silver care instructions, you may want to visit my Web site's http://www.hermansilver.com/care.htm.

I never use toothbrushes because they scratch —I prefer horsehair and natural boar bristle. I would also remove any dried polish in crevices by wetting a cotton ball and dissolving the polish as opposed to using a toothpick. Keep in mind that the toothpick may also remove the patina that developed in the engraving!

[piette]

Hi Zolotnik,
Are you able to give any advice on cleaning items such as a gilded cloisonné enamel cigarette case... As you know the surface is not smooth on an object like this as it is with the enamel case you showed. Should the same method be followed with more care to get into all the little crevices between the enamel cells?
Best Regards,
Piette

[Zolotnik]

Hi Piette -

did not see your question until today, sorry!
All sorts of enamel (enamelclausonné) are best cleaned as follows:
The surface between the enamel cells is pebbled and gilded, mostly oxydized black over the years. Please never try to polish gilded silver with some silverpolish - it will remove the thin gold layer!! First clean with warm water, mild soap (dishwasher emulsion) and a soft toothbrush to remove dirt, grease etc. Than spray with tile cleaner, wait several minutes, brush with the toothbrush (repeat if necessary) and rinse with clear water, dry and polish with cotton. That´s all.
Enamel is glass - so there is no problem with the mild citrus acid in the tile cleaner.
Tip: use the tooth brush of your girl friend.....:-)

Regards
Zolotnik

[AG2012]

There is an interesting way to remove excessive tarnish.
1. Plastic vessel
2. Place ALUMINIUM foil in it
3. Comfortably warm water
4. Dissolve SODIUM CARBONATE (NOT bicarbonate — baking soda)
5. Place silver on the foil
6. Leave overnight

The foil will turn almost black. Most of the tarnish will disappear but silver will not shine; it can be polished later. The point is to remove excessive tarnish without using any commercial product.