Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Polishing Silver

Hello, friends!  Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog!  I hope everyone had a fabulous Mother's Day!  I shared in my Mother's Day Post that I had received a Reed and Barton King Francis Punch bowl, tray, and cups from a local antique shoppe from my husband.  I'll share that he was not particularly impressed with its appearance, as it was quite dirty.  Call it over-zealous (perhaps over-excited), but I polished the bowl before I snapped a pic!  Yikes, what kind of blogger am I!!?  Here it is with the cups and tray, where clearly I have only polished some of the cups, and not the tray, either. This should give you an idea how it looked before.

A closeup of one polished and one unpolished cup. 



Once she was polished, my hubby began to appreciate the beauty I could see hidden beneath the tarnish. 

So, how did I do it?  Plain white toothpaste.  Toothpaste acts as a very gentle abrasive.  I have heard silver lovers tsk tsk at the thought of using toothpaste as silver cleaner, stating it can cause scratches. What is different about my method is I diluted the toothpaste with a small amount of water, creating a foam cleanser, and used an electric toothbrush with soft bristles as a cleaning mechanism.   After cleaning, I rinsed, and used a soft clean cloth to dry.  

Afterwards, I polished the silver with a Goddard's silver polishing cloth.  You can find them at any Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  

It is a time-intensive task, but well worth it!

To view other methods of silver cleaning, you may visit my Silver Cleaning Challenge Post here



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9 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for visiting me today :) Your punch set is gorgeous--what a sweet husband you have. I think your use of the electric toothbrush is AMAZING and I can't wait to try it, especially on stubborn polish. Take care--

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    1. Thank you!! It worked so well in those tiny crevices. :)
      So glad you enjoyed the post.

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    2. Also, forgot to mention! Love your tutorial 'How to get the Pottery Barn Look.' Thanks for sharing!

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  2. What a beautiful set! I've never heard of using toothpaste for silver before, but it's got to be a lot cheaper than silver polish, that's for sure. Thank you for sharing this at my History & Home link party, so glad you did! Dawn @ We Call It Junkin.com

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    1. Parsimonious is my first name (winks slyly). Thank you for having me, Dawn a pleasure as always!

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  3. OMGosh that is beautiful. I never see them for sale around here since there is just one antique shop in my town now.
    what a find
    I seen you over on Ivy & Elephants wonderful blog

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