Home, Décor: Essential Maintenance Tips for Antique Silver

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Category: Home, Decor, Gardens

Published on Friday, 12 March 2021 15:52

Written by Mallory Knee

Antique silver pieces are among the most beautiful and luxurious items to own. Are you wondering what are the best techniques to care for the beauty of your antique silver? Discover the three essential maintenance tips.

However, many people shy away from silver, believing the upkeep is difficult. Tarnishing occurs naturally as silver oxidizes, creating unpleasant-looking smudges on the otherwise mirror-like surface.

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Truthfully, tarnish is extremely easy to keep on top of the silver, as long as you have a little know-how. Rather than avoid these amazing and often useful items, explore the essential maintenance tips for antique silver to keep each piece sparkling even with frequent use.

Store Silver Properly

Enjoying the silver comes down to storing it effectively. Improperly stored silver will tarnish more rapidly. This creates the illusion that silver is hard to care for or needs near-constant polishing. That isn't really true. Save on the elbow grease and instead focus on the silver's surroundings.

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Silvers doesn't do well in humidity. If a home has a humidity of 50 percent or higher, this is likely the culprit for less than gleaming silver. Within display cases, ensure the interior of the cabinet has properly sealed wood since fumes can interact with antique silver. Lastly, store each piece wrapped in a clean linen or acid-free paper tissue to ensure no oils stain the pieces.

Handling Silver With Care

How people interact with silver can also have a major impact on its beauty and longevity. For silverware and other items intended for daily use, clean immediately after use. Never let food particles or any other substance linger on silver; this will create areas of tarnish that are difficult to polish. This includes contact with skin oils.

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It's best to handle silver with a linen or cotton cloth when possible, especially for display pieces. Wipe off pieces after each interaction. Fingerprints left for long periods can even deteriorate the surface of silver permanently. Silver is a great investment that can be resold, but only if the quality of a piece is maintained.

How To Clean Silver

The most essential maintenance tips for antique silver are techniques for cleaning. For pieces in good condition, an occasional light polish with clean linen will usually do the trick. Slightly tarnished pieces can be restored easily using a silver buffing pad and very little effort. For more advanced tarnish, a jewelry cleaning cream made for silver will quickly lift any dark spots.

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There are many solutions on the market for pieces that need a stronger chemical to remove tarnish. For those looking for a less aggressive answer, soak the silver in a mixture of water, table salt, and fabric softener. Afterwards, remove it from the solution and rinse it clean. Always use a clean cloth to wipe down and dry each piece. Then, you can enjoy your clean silver!