My friend Carlyn hosts a beautiful ladies tea in her home every month with her beautiful tea service so I asked her to teach me how to polish Goodwill silver. As you know I love Downton Abbey so this gives me something to do while the show is on hiatus. Sighhhh.
DeeAnna, it was fun to watch the video, and hear your voice. (:>)
I never polish my silver. I like it tarnished like you do. But it is good to know how to do it, in case I want to use it for a party or something!
I love Downton Abbey too. I watched the second season on Masterpiece Theater, but hadn't seen the first season, so I just purchased both season 1 and 2 and also the CD soundtrack! I am excited to get those.
Tarnish is a chemical reaction of the silver with the environment. If left too long, the tarnish will start eating the silver and it will become pitted. This is not necessarily a style choice, the silver is really dirty. Always polish your silver-plate and sterling silverware. You wouldn't serve someone dinner on a dirty plate, so always polish the eating parts of your utensils. The fork tines are especially hard to clean, and a fork dip by Goddard or another silver company works wonders. I have often stabbed myself when cleaning forks with toothbrushes. Replating silver is really expensive. A teaspoon or fork can start at $30, so a teapot can run in the hundreds. A nice addition to a tea service is the large tray for underneath. If you buy silver really black and dirty, line a pyrex dish with extra strength aluminum foil. Add equal parts of baking soda and salt, maybe a quarter cup of each. Mix the salts with almost boiling water. Add your flatware and cover the whole thing with another layer of aluminum foil, pressed down into the water. Leave for half an hour, then wash with soap and polish. The really bad tarnish will wash off. Bad smells are possible because of the chemical reaction. This may take two times to remove the really bad tarnish. Ann
Haha...I was going to send this post to Ann but I see she has already been here! As the recipient of some of her silver hand-me-downs, I will be using these tips for sure :)
I think silver is going to get popular again in a big way. Not that it was ever unpopular, but you know, it is still under appreciated. As much as I love finding all these pieces at Goodwill (just bought an urn this weekend for $5!) I feel so bad for the craftsmen who made these gorgeous things. I think in a couple of years it will be tres hip to collect granny silver in a big way. I'm scoopin it up while I still can!
DeeAnna, it was fun to watch the video, and hear your voice. (:>)
ReplyDeleteI never polish my silver. I like it tarnished like you do. But it is good to know how to do it, in case I want to use it for a party or something!
I love Downton Abbey too. I watched the second season on Masterpiece Theater, but hadn't seen the first season, so I just purchased both season 1 and 2 and also the CD soundtrack! I am excited to get those.
Linda @ Truthful Tidbits
Tarnish is a chemical reaction of the silver with the environment. If left too long, the tarnish will start eating the silver and it will become pitted. This is not necessarily a style choice, the silver is really dirty. Always polish your silver-plate and sterling silverware. You wouldn't serve someone dinner on a dirty plate, so always polish the eating parts of your utensils. The fork tines are especially hard to clean, and a fork dip by Goddard or another silver company works wonders. I have often stabbed myself when cleaning forks with toothbrushes. Replating silver is really expensive. A teaspoon or fork can start at $30, so a teapot can run in the hundreds. A nice addition to a tea service is the large tray for underneath. If you buy silver really black and dirty, line a pyrex dish with extra strength aluminum foil. Add equal parts of baking soda and salt, maybe a quarter cup of each. Mix the salts with almost boiling water. Add your flatware and cover the whole thing with another layer of aluminum foil, pressed down into the water. Leave for half an hour, then wash with soap and polish. The really bad tarnish will wash off. Bad smells are possible because of the chemical reaction. This may take two times to remove the really bad tarnish. Ann
ReplyDeleteHaha...I was going to send this post to Ann but I see she has already been here! As the recipient of some of her silver hand-me-downs, I will be using these tips for sure :)
ReplyDeleteI think silver is going to get popular again in a big way. Not that it was ever unpopular, but you know, it is still under appreciated. As much as I love finding all these pieces at Goodwill (just bought an urn this weekend for $5!) I feel so bad for the craftsmen who made these gorgeous things. I think in a couple of years it will be tres hip to collect granny silver in a big way. I'm scoopin it up while I still can!
PS: Super cute video!
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