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Basic Silver Care Advice

Silver is tarnished by sulfur-containing materials, particularly hydrogen sulfide (H2S).  The most common tarnish-causing substances are wool, felt, food (eggs, onions, mayonnaise), fossil fuels, rubber bands, latex gloves, carpet padding, and certain paints.  Tarnish is accelerated in a humid environment.  Oily salts from fingers can, if not removed, show up as corrosion patterns that may have to be professionally removed.

If there is no tarnish present on your silver, use a phosphate-free detergent to clean it after use.  Silver that is used, then gently washed and dried immediately, will require infrequent tarnish removal.  When hand washing, do not allow your silver to come into contact with a metal sink: it will scratch.

Tarnish is easily removed when first noticed (usually a yellowish tint), and will become increasingly difficult to deal with as it turns to light brown and eventually black.  Frequent light cleanings (washing the object with a phosphate-free detergent may be all you need) are preferred to waiting until the tarnish gets so stubborn that more abrasive polishes have to be employed.

The polishes and cleaners listed here can be found in your local hardware or department store.  3M's Tarni-Shield Silver Polish and Twinkle Silver Polish are by far the least abrasive of the commercial cleaners, and Tarni-Shield has a much more effective tarnish barrier than Twinkle.  Goddard’s Long Shine Silver Polish, Goddard’s Silver Wash, Wright's Anti-Tarnish Silver Polish, and Wright’s Silver Cream (the Silver Cream offers no tarnish protection) are all recommended for removing heavier tarnish and residue.  Use Wright's Silver Cream to remove stains on steel knife blades.  If the choice is between a polish that protects better but is more abrasive, and one that does not protect as well but is far less abrasive, go with the less abrasive polish.  Polishes that are meant to be washed off are less abrasive because they use a liquid to suspend the polishing ingredients.

Don’t use polishes that have dried up; the abrasive particles have become much too concentrated and will harm your silver.  Never use steel wool (too abrasive and rust may result if particles are not fully rinsed from the interior of an object), Scotch-Brite scouring pads (too abrasive), or dips.

You may have noticed, after cleaning your silver that a purplish stain remained.  This is oxidized copper, called firestain, and can be found on many colonial through nineteenth century pieces.  It is not generally seen on pieces that have been produced by the large silver companies after the 1800s, though many one-person silversmithing shops still use this technique.  This depletion process leaves the object with a pure silver surface which is more resistant to tarnishing.  The stain develops in sterling and coin silver when oxygen penetrates the outer surface of the object during brazing, oxidizing the copper content. Fine silver is left on the surface when acid chemically removes the oxidized copper, though copper may be oxidized below the surface.  Firestain may not show up until after many years of polishing.

Do not mistake this stain for tarnish!  Attempting to remove it will only damage your prized piece.