Any silverplate polish pros?

[violet02]

I have a massive collection of compotes, teapots, creams, sugars and finger bowls that will need a serious polishing before the wedding. I have MAAS which is supposed to be way to go for silver polishing. This heat seems to be making things tarnish even worse right now.

I read online about tarnish strips that you can put inside a sealed bag with your polished item to keep it from tarnishing more. Does anyone know if these work and what type of sealed bag it should go into, airtight or just ziplock? Since we have so many pieces to polish I''d like to get a head start on them but not if they''re just going to start tarnishing again in a month. It''s a big undertaking so ''m trying to figure out how to tackle this best. Also I bought a bottle of stuff from MAAS thats supposed to help with tarnish prevention but since we''re 100+ days out from the wedding and its hot out a silver strip/seal alternative sounds appealing.

Any input or suggestions on how to approach this? I read the thread on ebay about how to polish silver so I chose the MAAS path from that, now to upkeep it! I''d like to do one awesome polish for the wedding without killing ourselves last minute then leave it at that.

Thanks!

 

[VRBeauty]

Violet02 -- I''m sorry I didn''t catch your thread earlier. I''ve been collecting silverplate for a few years now. I''ve been planning to ask PandoraII for cleaning and storage hints when she''s got her wedding behind her. With that caveate, I''d be happy to share my experience so far with you, just in case you can still use suggestions.

I''m a little leary of the Maas polish. It does a great job of bringing out the shine, but I think it is harsher than some other polishes. I use silverplate for my everyday flatware -- and it may just be that I''ve been using the same set for a long time (time to trade out!) -- but it seems like I''ve had more spotting problems since using the Maas. I''ve switched to Haggerty polish (and silver foam for utensils I eat from or the inside of bowls) since it''s been around a long time and has a very good reputation.

Re the anti-tarnish strips, I''ve found some before in an on-line search. However... most Joann''s stores sell the anti-tarnish flannel that they line silverware boxes etc with. It might be as easy and cheap to buy a yard (or less) of that, cut it into pieces, and enclose a piece in each plastic bag. It should work as well as the anti-tarnish strips. Haggerty''s silver polish also has some tarnish preventative in it, but I haven''t been using it long enough to put it to the test.

 

[violet02]

Yay a response! Thank you thank you!

So I already bought the MAAS but this silverplate is for the wedding and I plan on selling it afterwards so one polish is about all they are going to get.

I also ordered strips that aren't here yet.

Would you recommend the following:

Polish each piece, place in (sealable?) plastic bag, throw in a tarnish strip. I think one strip does 2 cubic feet so maybe a big plastic bag and a strip? Keep the pieces separate or together?

I bought a 1lb can of the maas but I have about 32+ silver teapots, 16+ compotes, 32+ creams and sugars and 16+ finger bowls, maybe more... is that enough? I'm adding pluses because it's too many to count right now thats the rough number.

 

[surfgirl]

Funny seeing this thread today as I''ve been trying to refurbish some sterling that I let go with polishing...In fact, I just sent off my grandfather''s silver cigarette case today to be refurbished and replated...Weird coinky dink.

I use Haggerty''s but I''m not a fan right now. It doesn''t seem to be doing a whole lot when there''s a lot of tarnish. I tried that Cape Cod stuff thinking at least it''d smell better but I dont think it works much. My mother always has kept her sterling pieces wrapped in that Haggerty''s blue felt stuff. I think it has something in it to keep things bright? Also, I know she''s also always cleaned, polished silver and then wrapped it and put it in a ziplock baggie for storage in a dark cool place. That seems to keep tarnish at bay since tarnish is caused by oxidation from Oxygen reacting with the silver...Do I sound like I know what the hell I''m talking about? I think that''s right...Annnyway, I bought one of those silver composite round disk doohickies at the Fair this summer...you mix up some hot water and Arm & Hammer washing powder and drop in that disk and then put your silver in with it and it has to touch the metal disk to disolve the tarnish. It works, sort of. It feels almost like it''s drawing silver off, but I think it''s just the tarnish coming off in the water. I dont know where to buy them but there''s a website on my instructions if you want to try it...It''s not a miracle wonder, but it seems to somewhat work....I''m going to start storing silver I''m not using in plastic ziplocks to see if it prolongs the shine.

 

[VRBeauty]

SG, I''ve used your baking soda/salt/aluminum foil method for really dificult stuff like beads. It''s not recommended, I think it does leave the surface less smooth so maybe it removes some of the silver. If you have silver pieces that have intentionally darkened areas on them it will usually take that off. With the Haggerty''s, the silver polish is more heavy-duty than the foam. The polish also leaves some tarnish retadant on the pieces, which I don''t think is the case with the foam.

Violet: Good luck with your silver polish project -- it sounds like you''re on the right track! It probably goes without saying that I love the idea of using silver teapots, compotes etc. as part of your wedding decor!

 

[violet02]

Thanks for the tips! I''m going to try the ziploc baggie, tarnish strip, dark place route so I can get to polishing now since there''s so many darn pieces.

One thing I''m kind of stuck on is the lids. We never planned on removing the lids off the teapots. My friend thinks we can use a hammer and tap out the pin that holds the lid on and then the flowers won''t be obstructed by the lid but that thought scares me a bit because what if they break or we can''t get the lid back on.

Do you think the lid will be in the way? (a bit off topic...)