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Antique silver sale and auctions
Focus on Antique Silver
Antique silver
English hallmarks
How to Care
for Your Silver
by
Martin Swinton
Silver is beautiful but it can
tarnish quickly. This sometimes puts
people off collecting it. Don’t let
it deter you. Here are some tips to
help you enjoy your silver.
— Use
it. Regular use is best. Silver was
made to be used.
— Wash in hot mild soapy water.
To avoid spotting, wash quickly in
hot mild soapy water, rinse in hot
clean water and dry quickly.
— Avoid contact with scotch tape,
cardboard and newspaper. Acids in
the tape, cardboard and newspaper
can be harmful to silver.
— Use acid-free paper. Wrap
silver in acid free paper when
storing.
— Avoid contact with eggs, onions
and peas. The sulfur in these foods
combines with silver to form silver
sulphide, which discolors the
surface.
— Avoid contact with wool and
felt. These fabrics contain harmful
sulfur.
— Avoid contact with rubber.
Don’t fasten cutlery with rubber
bands or store rubber bands in
silver cups etc because rubber
contains ingredients that can
tarnish silver. This includes latex
gloves. Don’t wear them when
cleaning your silver.
— Avoid dishwashers. The
combination of harsh detergents and
very high temperatures is far too
much for sterling to bear.
— Avoid salt. Remove salt from
silver saltshakers and salt sellers
after each use. Salt is a corrosive
element. Storing these items with
salt in them will damage them along
with the rest of the silver in the
cupboard because salt will permeate
the air.
— Clean silver candlesticks
carefully. Avoid using a knife or
other sharp object to remove the nub
of a candle. Instead, pour in a
little hot water. Let it sit and
then the remainder of the candle
will slip out.
— Don’t store silver in freshly
painted drawers. Some paints can
accelerate tarnishing. You should
wait 4 months.
CONT'D
Antique silver sale and auctions |
