Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - What do you use to polish your....Silver :) Also what was used historically? & wax?

Tatyana Dianova · 28th March 2017, 08:42 AM

I have cleaned hundreds of old tarnished silver pieces and I have tried almost all known methods except the exotic ones.
For lightly tarnished pieces the polishing cloth is the best.
For heavily tarnished pieces with the heavy black and brown patina which is not affected by the polishing cloth one may try a silver foam. But I find it pretty stinky, bad for hands and environment, and I find in this case the baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) the best solution which I apply with a wet cloth. I use the coarsest and the cheapest one which I buy at the local Russian shop and which is made in Belarus. The local German baking soda is much finer and works not as good. The piece has to be wiped afterwards with a wet cloth or washed if possible in a fresh water, and then wiped dry. The soda/foam residue if left in relief should be removed with a dry toothbrush. Afterwards the piece should be polished with a polishing cloth. As the end result one gets a great contrast between the raised shiny surface and the matt dark depressions.
For cleaning filigree pieces the toothpaste and the toothbrush are the best, but one should keep in mind that using the toothbrush will clean all the dark depressions as well which can lead to an expressionless result…
If the patina was so heavy that it has damaged the surface like the rust on steel and the patina is affected neither by silver foam nor the baking soda, I take 0000 steel wool, and the polishing cloth afterwards. If there is a hard green residue in depressions one should use a brass brush for this area.
Preserving the shiny finish on the pieces is a problem. The thick wax layer is matt and it fills in the depressions. If the wax layer is thin the piece still darkens. I have tried the modern nano finish and it works well but it is very expensive. The easiest way is to keep the smaller jewelry pieces in a closed plastic bags. And for larger pieces like the swords on display use a polishing cloth again and again when needed.

28th March 2017, 08:42 AM	#30
Tatyana Dianova Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 678	I have cleaned hundreds of old tarnished silver pieces and I have tried almost all known methods except the exotic ones. For lightly tarnished pieces the polishing cloth is the best. For heavily tarnished pieces with the heavy black and brown patina which is not affected by the polishing cloth one may try a silver foam. But I find it pretty stinky, bad for hands and environment, and I find in this case the baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) the best solution which I apply with a wet cloth. I use the coarsest and the cheapest one which I buy at the local Russian shop and which is made in Belarus. The local German baking soda is much finer and works not as good. The piece has to be wiped afterwards with a wet cloth or washed if possible in a fresh water, and then wiped dry. The soda/foam residue if left in relief should be removed with a dry toothbrush. Afterwards the piece should be polished with a polishing cloth. As the end result one gets a great contrast between the raised shiny surface and the matt dark depressions. For cleaning filigree pieces the toothpaste and the toothbrush are the best, but one should keep in mind that using the toothbrush will clean all the dark depressions as well which can lead to an expressionless result… If the patina was so heavy that it has damaged the surface like the rust on steel and the patina is affected neither by silver foam nor the baking soda, I take 0000 steel wool, and the polishing cloth afterwards. If there is a hard green residue in depressions one should use a brass brush for this area. Preserving the shiny finish on the pieces is a problem. The thick wax layer is matt and it fills in the depressions. If the wax layer is thin the piece still darkens. I have tried the modern nano finish and it works well but it is very expensive. The easiest way is to keep the smaller jewelry pieces in a closed plastic bags. And for larger pieces like the swords on display use a polishing cloth again and again when needed.