Removing tarnish from silverplate

[Tallone]

My wife and I hit a few garage sales yesterday. Based on the Craigslist ads, the first one seemed least likely to yield anything of value but it turned out that was the only sale where we bought anything. But I digress...

I rarely buy silverplate but I bought 3 pieces because: 1) they were hallmarked (all by the same maker); 2) the markings said "silver on copper" so the base metal is of higher quality; and 3) the price was right - $20 for all three pieces. Below are pics of the 3 pieces and the maker's mark.



I believe the maker is Sheridan. A little preliminary research suggests that these pieces might sell for a decent price. Nothing spectacular but maybe $40 or more each. In looking at used Sheridan pieces that recently sold on ebay, I noticed that nearly all of them had been polished. This raised a question in my mind.

I know it is a bad idea to use harsh chemical treatments (like TarnX) on silverplate. I have some Nevr-Dull wadding polish that works well but polishing these pieces using Nevr-Dull will be a huge amount of work and may not be very effective in getting into the small grooves of the decorative trim. I have seen a cleaning method that involves an electro-chemical process of soaking the piece in a bath of hot water and baking soda with a sheet of aluminum foil to transfer the tarnish from the silverplate to the foil. I am wondering if anybody here has ever used that method and, if so, how well it worked.

 

[Beachkid23]

Tarnex. Put it on a cloth, rub and rinse. Then I use a polish rag after I dry them. Cuts the polishing time to seconds other then minutes

 

[FloridaHunter]

Yes, I have used this method on silver-plated flatware. It does work, but I am not sure if it is any safer than TarnX.

 

[frankendime]

Yes it works. I make a bowl out of aluminum foil. Put the piece in the bowl with a couple tablespoons baking soda and a tablespoon of salt. Pour BOILING water over to cover the piece. Let soak. It won't take long. May hafta repeat the process for heavy tarnish. Let dry and buff with soft cloth. Worked for me many times. Takes all the work out of the job.

 

[twiasp]

Yes it works. I make a bowl out of aluminum foil. Put the piece in the bowl with a couple tablespoons baking soda and a tablespoon of salt. Pour BOILING water over to cover the piece. Let soak. It won't take long. May hafta repeat the process for heavy tarnish. Let dry and buff with soft cloth. Worked for me many times. Takes all the work out of the job.

FYI, incase you didn't know, that metal item is going to be super hot when you remove it lol. Cold water works also, just not as quickly, the hotter the water the faster it works.

 

[vpnavy]

Nice buy. Thanks for sharing...

 

[Tallone]

FYI, incase you didn't know, that metal item is going to be super hot when you remove it lol. Cold water works also, just not as quickly, the hotter the water the faster it works.

Boiling water will make the metal hot? Who knew?

My education and career is in natural science so I have had a good bit of chemistry. Application of heat will always increase the rate of a chemical reaction. It will also increase the rate at which a compound dissolves into the solvent (in this case, water). I looked up the chemistry of silver tarnish removal using baking soda and also how TarnX works. TarnX uses some very potent acids so I was less inclined to use that method to clean up this silver. I gave the baking soda/aluminum method a try instead as this reaction just strips the sulfur atoms from the silver sulphide and creates hydrogen sulphide gas (that "rotten egg" smell). that seemed less harsh and damaging to me.

First, I did a test run on the base of the pitcher. I gave it a 5 minute soak. There was still a light film of tarnish after 5 minutes so I gave it a gentle rub down with Nevr-Dull and a soft cloth buff. Here are the results:


I was pretty pleased with this result so I went full-scale on the small serving dish.


I thought this came out pretty well, too, although it did reveal a couple of small spots where the base copper is showing through (see below).




BTW, if anyone is interested, this is Nevr-Dull. My brother was in the Navy years ago and he said this is what they used to polish metal parts on board ship. If it's good enough for that use, it's good enough for me. It does work very well.

 

[Joe777Cool]

Nevr-a-dull moment on this forum