CHOW Tips are the shared wisdom of our community. If you’ve figured out some piece of food, drink, or cooking wisdom that you’d like to share on video (and you can be in San Francisco), email Meredith Arthur and tell us what you’ve got in mind.
Querencia, Aartist: Take a plastic tub. Put a piece of aluminium foil on the bottom, place the silver pieces to be cleanes so they keep contact with the foil. Sprinkle with pure table salt, pour on boiling hot water. These black stains are silver sufate. The sulfur disappears instantly as a gas (you can smell it). The silver settles back nicely in the cutlery. Nor rubbing needed.
I once saw an antique jewelry dealer do something with salt and (I think) vinegar. Poured into water in a certain combination she dropped silver into it and when enough salt was in the water the tarnish just vanished. Had to be polished afterwards. Anyway, I've forgotten exactly how this is done and would appreciate the formulae if anyone knows? :)
Well said, Querencia! Old silver should be treated with care--or not at all. N. Colman: Try using an old soft-bristle toothbrush to gently remove silver polish from those little nooks and crannies. And enjoy your beautiful piece!
I have an antique silver spice box (used for Jewish Sabbath Havdalah) that has very fine filigree. All the polishes and probably the toothpaste clog the little holes. I don't want to use strong cheemicals - will the aluminum foil + baking soda hurt it?
Oh, PLEASE don't do this to your sterling silver. Short cuts like boiling with baking soda and dipping into some chemical will RUIN the patina on good silver. Get Goddard or Wright silver polish, find a soft cloth, put on some nice music, and just do it. Nobody really owns silver---we just get to be its curator for a while. I have seen this time and again---when the old folks are gone nobody...+READ
Oh, PLEASE don't do this to your sterling silver. Short cuts like boiling with baking soda and dipping into some chemical will RUIN the patina on good silver. Get Goddard or Wright silver polish, find a soft cloth, put on some nice music, and just do it. Nobody really owns silver---we just get to be its curator for a while. I have seen this time and again---when the old folks are gone nobody really wants their stuff, which gets wholesaled out to some estate sale dealer, EXCEPT for the sterling and the good jewelry. And if you are lucky enough to have old silver, think of the tables your 1784 or 1810 teaspoons have been on. Do please take loving care of it---otherwise sell it and buy some nice stainless steel.-COLLAPSE
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Querencia, Aartist: Take a plastic tub. Put a piece of aluminium foil on the bottom, place the silver pieces to be cleanes so they keep contact with the foil. Sprinkle with pure table salt, pour on boiling hot water. These black stains are silver sufate. The sulfur disappears instantly as a gas (you can smell it). The silver settles back nicely in the cutlery. Nor rubbing needed.
I once saw an antique jewelry dealer do something with salt and (I think) vinegar. Poured into water in a certain combination she dropped silver into it and when enough salt was in the water the tarnish just vanished. Had to be polished afterwards. Anyway, I've forgotten exactly how this is done and would appreciate the formulae if anyone knows? :)
Well said, Querencia! Old silver should be treated with care--or not at all.
N. Colman: Try using an old soft-bristle toothbrush to gently remove silver polish from those little nooks and crannies. And enjoy your beautiful piece!
I have an antique silver spice box (used for Jewish Sabbath Havdalah) that has very fine filigree. All the polishes and probably the toothpaste clog the little holes. I don't want to use strong cheemicals - will the aluminum foil + baking soda hurt it?
Oh, PLEASE don't do this to your sterling silver. Short cuts like boiling with baking soda and dipping into some chemical will RUIN the patina on good silver. Get Goddard or Wright silver polish, find a soft cloth, put on some nice music, and just do it. Nobody really owns silver---we just get to be its curator for a while. I have seen this time and again---when the old folks are gone nobody...+READ
Oh, PLEASE don't do this to your sterling silver. Short cuts like boiling with baking soda and dipping into some chemical will RUIN the patina on good silver. Get Goddard or Wright silver polish, find a soft cloth, put on some nice music, and just do it. Nobody really owns silver---we just get to be its curator for a while. I have seen this time and again---when the old folks are gone nobody really wants their stuff, which gets wholesaled out to some estate sale dealer, EXCEPT for the sterling and the good jewelry. And if you are lucky enough to have old silver, think of the tables your 1784 or 1810 teaspoons have been on. Do please take loving care of it---otherwise sell it and buy some nice stainless steel.-COLLAPSE
I think you're supposed to line a container with aluminum foil and mix baking soda into water. The chemical reaction takes off the tarnish.
Baking Soda works better for my silverware. Try it!
Thanks for letting me know. Videos are hard to watch with no sound...
Nice to watch
Jill! I had no idea you were at Chow these days. I had missed your work over at the Times. Glad to see you again!
In case you're like me and hate watching these videos, the secret ingredient is: toothpaste.