Dear Grapefruit, I hope that this reply is not too late for you to use. I have a great deal of silver that always seems to need polishing and I have tried a great number of different methods and products to do so. I have found that the best,by far, product is Wrights Silver Polish. It is a paste type product that you rub on the item,rubbing well and changing the surface of the cloth that you use to apply the paste with, then rince the item in very hot water and dry with a soft cloth. On very badly tarished items you may have to do this twice. I also store all my silver,if possiable, in tarish resistent cloth. HTH, Mary
I also use wrights but when I took a course this spring on caring for valuable items there was another polish recommended. I'll look and see if I can find the name of the catalog company that sold the products.
Wright's is not mine -- I use Haggerty's and prefer the spray -- it leaves a nice coating so that it doesn't tarnish as quickly. And I like Maas. Our Historical Fort uses Maas on things that they have to polish. It's a rub on, let set, rub off, rinse and dry type of polish -- the Haggerty's spray is much easier IMO.
I have used Wright's but prefer Haggerty's (even if it isn't the spray) and Maas.
Wrights, Hagerty's, Weiman and Goddards are common big names that I know of. They all leave a coating after polishing that can help some with retarnish prevention issues. Keeping silver from air exposure really can help too. (Silver Jewelry in ziplock bags for instance)
Just try and avoid the dipping variety of liquid tarnish remover, it tends to take off more silver than the other types...that is why it works so fast. It is arsenic based, too! (sometimes is is the only thing for intricate chains/necklaces...but it sure needs to be washed and rinsed well after)
Hi Grapefruit. My notes from the class say for metal cleaning use a solution of denatured alcohol and calcium carbonate. Ask at a hardware store for those products.
