Featured Polishing advice

Hi,
I wash all my silver with soap and water first to remove all surface dirt. Then I polish with silver polish and give the silver a good rinse with clean water. Then I dry it well. My old silver usually around 200 hundred old get polished usually every 10 years, It stays clean. New silver gets cleaned after several weeks. Newer silver tarnishes so quickly I keep most of my silver in cloth bags with pieces of chalk around the bags.
greg

 

Great question, and one that I hadn’t put thought into until you asked it. Here’s a few of my observations:

1. No matter how much you polish, you will never get rid of the tarnish showing up as you polish more. It certainly decreases but it won’t go away completely.

2. I’m results oriented when polishing, focusing on how the item looks, that determines how much I polish.

3. When I’m done, I use a wet soft sponge and hot water on the item to get the silver cream out of the cracks and crevices of a piece.

4. I dry the piece with a soft cloth and I usually take a polishing cloth and gently polish the piece as the final step.

I don’t think getting moisture on a piece has any impact on it getting tarnished faster. I have found that pieces I’ve polished with only a polish cloth tarnish more quickly compared to a piece I’m using a cream on. I hope this helps!

 

I'm a big believer in going to the soure. I'd have TIFFANY polish it. That's a service they offer.

"Silver polishing services are available for sterling silver jewelry, flatware and hollowware items manufactured by Tiffany & Co. If you wish to have your silver polished, please contact your nearest Tiffany & Co. store or call Customer Service at 800 843 3269."

Debora

 

Thanks @gregsglass and @MrNate

Will try those tips out

@Debora mine is not a tiffany silver. So I do not think they would polish it.

 

novice question. why do you add chalk? Is it like adding silicia gel?

 

Hi,
Chalk absorbs the moisture which causes the sulfur to adhere to the silver.
greg

 

Thank you @gregsglass