ISO help cleaning silver ..

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hope this is the right place ....
i was given two wine glasses and a goblet ?
that are silver .. and these things are old ..
really old .. and have not been cleaned in a long
time .. i have some wrights silver cleaner .. but it did
not do much .. any tips on cleaning silver? or should i
take these cups somewhere ?
 
hope this is the right place ....
i was given two wine glasses and a goblet ?
that are silver .. and these things are old ..
really old .. and have not been cleaned in a long
time .. i have some wrights silver cleaner .. but it did
not do much .. any tips on cleaning silver? or should i
take these cups somewhere ?

First, don't use something like Tarn-X even though it may be tempting. Buck and I have been in the antique business (specializing in china, silver and glassware) for nearly 30 years, which will give you a base from which I speak.

Before you take your piece to a professional, try using something called Nev-R-Dull. It can be found in most hardware stores in the "cleaning" section. This is the product Replacements, Ltd. uses to clean/polish their items. Using this product will require some elbow grease on your part, but the results are well worth it.

If this doesn't get the results you desire, take your pieces to a reputable jewelry store and have them polish them for you.
 
When you say they're really old, it makes me wonder - could they be pewter? Check to see if there's a mark of any sort.

I use Wright's for all of my silver items, and even the old ones shine up well. (make sure to squeeze most of the water out of the sponge before you put the cream on the silver)

Wish I could be of more help!
 
First, don't use something like Tarn-X even though it may be tempting. Buck and I have been in the antique business (specializing in china, silver and glassware) for nearly 30 years, which will give you a base from which I speak.


Does Tarn-X harm the silver? Just curious as we have a silver silverware set (that sounds redundant doesn't it?") that we used Tarn-X on. It cleaned it up but not nearly as nice as the jeweler did, probably cause they cleaned and polished it.
Thanks!
 
Tarn-X chemically removes an infinitesimal amount of silver so, if used regularly, you are damaging your silver. Using something like Nev-R-Dull is better. Nev-R-Dull is a cotton wadding that is impregnated with a cleaning element. That's why I said elbow grease is used. It takes a little while to polish off the tarnish, but the finished "polish" that remains is a lovely luster that old and new silver shows beautifully.
 
Would you recommend Nev-R-Dull for silver jewelry, too? I got a Tiffany bracelet for Christmas and I love the way it looks. I'm just worried that eventually it won't shine like it does now.
 
Nev-R-Dull is safe for any silver surface. However, because it is made of cotton wadding, if there are prongs or areas that are sharp, some of the wadding will catch there. It will just take some of your time to pick this out. Although, the end result of polishing silver with this product is far superior to anything else we've used.

A note of caution, though, wear rubber gloves because as the tarnish is removed things get "black."
 
Nev-R-Dull is safe for any silver surface. However, because it is made of cotton wadding, if there are prongs or areas that are sharp, some of the wadding will catch there. It will just take some of your time to pick this out. Although, the end result of polishing silver with this product is far superior to anything else we've used.

A note of caution, though, wear rubber gloves because as the tarnish is removed things get "black."

Good to know. Thanks! :)
 
One thing that jewelers use to really make things shine is steam. Think of the little spout on an espresso maker - same type of thing.
 
CherryRed,
I use Wright's to polish silverware. For silver jewlery that is too intricated, I use toothpaste.
 
The bracelet isn't terribly intricate. It's this one:

2006761304470644.jpg


But if I end up needing to in the future, I'll definitely try the toothpaste technique. Thanks!
 
;)You can also keep all your silver jewelry you're not wearing in little ziploc bags.It keep the air out which causes the tarnishing.
 
a Very Dilute soln (2-5%) Nitric acid shines silver up just great!

if it`s the Blackish silver oxide or sulphide then Ammonia will will normally form a complex with those ions and remove that as well :)

it`s important to wash it with a good soap 1`st though to remove any oil deposits from shin etc.. (degreasing).
 
thanks everyone for the ideas .. Katie .. my sister also recomended what you did ..
i will look for some tomorrow ..
YT .. i dont think i have any Nitric acid lying around .. but i do have some ammonia
so i might give that a try ..
 
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