posted 12-01-2000 06:57 AM            

• Old tarnish could help a silversmith or researcher to identify how an item was assembled or repaired.

• On patterned silver tarnish creates a contrast that helps to reveal the pattern and this is usually desired by collectors.

• Old silver that has been handled and not over polished gets a certain patina that is very appreciated by collectors. Over polishing and buffing will result the loss of this patina.

• Curators have another view ....
  See post on Exhibitions - cleaning & polishing

It really depends on your point of view, experience and goals. What follows is a random sampling from past posts:

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Originally posted by Ulysses Dietz, Moderator posted 12-02-1999:

Just for information's sake, here at The Newark Museum we use only "precipitated calcium carbonate" and distilled water on cotton swabs to clean silver. That translates roughly into chalk powder, but it is a very fine chalk that doesn't scratch, but does remove the sulphur oxides that tarnish the surface. It's not as hard as you'd think, but I don't know where anyone finds these materials at a consumer level.

At home, mind you, I just use whatever commercial cleaner I like best.

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Scott Martin, Administrator posted 11-05-2000:

Regarding the care of silver, I could go into much detail about cleaning and polishing silver . . .

The basics:

• Whenever possible, avoid polishing silverplate. Silver plate is a thin coating of pure silver on a base metal (i.e., copper). Pure silver is much softer that Sterling and polishing will remove some silver eventually revealing the base metal.

• When silver or silverplate is tarnished polishing is the only effective way to remove the tarnish. Before polishing always begin by first washing with a mild soap and pure fresh water (i.e. distilled water). If you use tap water please be certain it doesn't contain sulphur or salts. Towel dry.

  There are many different silver polishes to select from. Pick a polish that doesn't contain rouge (they are usually a pinkish color) since the rouge is abrasive and will remove silver along with the tarnish.

• Once polished, you can keep silver looking great by making sure the silver doesn't come in contact with sulphur. For example, egg yolks contain sulphur. And make sure you wash your silver (see step one) on a regular schedule. How often depends on where you live and the time of year. There is sulphur in the air and the more sulphur there is, the more often washing will be required. With the proper schedule of simple washing and drying you may never have to polish your silver or silver plate again.

PS. The "dips" (i.e., Tarn-X) are good for a quick clean but don't really do a thorough job of getting the surface clean. Usually after several cleanings with a "dip" the silver begins to look greyish and you will end up polishing again. The dips also remove the "good tarnish" that provides the shadows and contrast that make your silver pattern stand out. My advice, is to use "dips" sparingly and they are best used on vermeil (gold wash).

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