Removing TOUGH tarnish from silverplate

[bathrick]

I have a couple of pieces of nice silverplate from the late 1800's, which act like they haven't been polished in a hundred years. I used a dip, the dip was blackened in the work. I polished with Wright's cream and barely did anything. Some spots of light tarnish have cleaned up, but the heavy tarnish remains behind.

Before I do any significant damage to them, does anyone have any recommendations for removing this thick tarnish without ruining the pieces?

Mike
.

[MLF]

Hello,

Your first step should be to attempt converting the tarnish back into silver. I have successfully done this with a heavily tarnished ice bucket. All you need is a sheet of aluminium foil, hot water, baking soda, table salt and a pan or bucket to do this in.

1) Line the pan with a sheet of aluminium foil. Place the items to be cleaned on top of the foil. Contact is an absolute must.

2) Heat enough water to cover the items in the pan to be cleaned. The warmer the water, the more efficient the chemical process. Add some tablespoons of salt.

3) Dissolve a lot (1-2 cups) of fresh baking soda into the water.

4) Once all is dissolved and the mixture is quite hot, pour it over your items, making sure contact is maintained between the items and the foil.

5) Now watch the tarnish disappear.

6) Not all the tarnish may be reversed, so repeat as necessary (using fresh materials).

As I say, I have done this with great success - and it's astonishing to me that people still polish plated items, thus removing the already thin layer of silver.

Good luck,

Mikael
.

[bathrick]

Thanks, Mikael

Unfortunately, I have never had much luck with that method. I am not sure if it is the temperature, amount of baking soda, or what. I usually don't add salt, which I did this time, but still little luck. To keep warm, I left on the burner at low, kept it there for 15 minutes. I'll try again sometime for longer, but my wife wanted the stove back. ;.)

Mike
.

[bathrick]

I tried the baking soda method, and it didn't work for me. I read some more nad found that washing soda was also recommended, so I tried that. The tarnish came right off, but now the areas that were bright polished are now dull and lifeless.

Anyone know what I did wrong here? Is there a technique I can use to recover from this? At least I tested it on the vase with damage - the good one is still tarnished, but looking good in spite of it.

Mike
.

[MLF]

Hello Mike,

Provided that washing soda works the same as what I used, it should only be a matter of a light polishing. What has happened is that you have converted the tarnish back into silver. In the wild, silver is either tarnished or a dull grey - but once domesticated, it must be polished to stay shiny...

A very light rubbing with a standard 'silver polisher's cloth' should do the trick.

Kind regards

Mikael
.

[bathrick]

thanks - I tried that but had no luck... I am thinking of using jeweler's rouge to smooth the surface a bit - that may bring the lustre out, but may remove the silver as well, so I am reluctant to do so without looking at alternatives first.

Yes, washing soda works the same way as baking soda and salt - the Washing soda is sodium carbonate, baking soda is sodium bi-carbonate. I suspect the salt addition is to create an equal number of sodium and carbonates. Aluminum is used in both as is hot water. IANAC (I am not a chemist) so this is a guess on my part.
.

[admin]

Hi,
Could it be that you are working in an area where the plate has already worn through? Trying to bring the base metal, if it is brittania metal or a similar alloy, up to a silver luster is pretty much impossible.
Regards, Tom
.

[bathrick]

Your post inspired me to get out the loupe and take a closer look. While the plate was shiny and clean when I put it into the bath, I now see that it looks like the bath took the plate right off of the vase. The little that is still shiny has bubbles all over, the dull parts have the plate flaked off.

Looks like the bath reacted with the base and stripped of much of the plate. I guess I'll need to re-plate the piece.

Mike
.

[jws3]

You are correct that washing soda is sodium carbonate. However, Na2CO3 is extremely alkaline, about the same as lye (NaOH). You probably attacked the base metal, whatever it is, with this very alkaline solution (probably made your hands slippery too as it denatured the protein in your skin) Sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3 is only mildly alkaline.

[silverhammer]

If you find tarnish too difficult to remove, contact a reputable silver conseravator to avoid further damaging your piece. Silver is very soft and easily damaged, and once you go down the road of trying more and more abrasive methods, you may devalue the piece. As they say in the medical community, "Do no harm!"

Jeff Herman
Silver Conservator