what is the black stuff that comes onto the cloth when polishing silver?
are you supposed to keep buffing the silver until you see no black residue?
are you supposed to keep buffing the silver until you see no black residue?
black on cloth when polishing silver jewelery?
illmaticnyc
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The tarnish is not silver oxide but silver sulphide, and salts of other metals in the silver alloy.
Some of the techniques described above, while removing the tarnish, may reduce the value of silver pieces (see the section on tarnish removal in this Wikipedia entry).
Aus_MD
Predominantly pollution, industrial and vehicular (sulphur oxides, that also cause acid rain). Tarnishing of silver occurs more rapidly in cities. DougNZ may know that in Rotorua (a city in New Zealand with geothermal activity and high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide ('rotten-egg gas')) tarnshing occurs very rapidly.
Aus_MD
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369 Posts
It takes quite a bit of silver to do you much harm. The LD50 in mice for collodial silver (dose at which 50% of the mice died) is about 100 mg/kg (in a 150 lb guy, that's 7 grams of silver - that's a lot). In humans, "[t]he estimated total dose required to induce argyria by ingestion is in the range of 1-30 g for soluble silver salts (Nordberg and Gerhardsson, 1988)." Argyria is that blue skin thing shown earlier in the thread.
And for my final trick, if you don't want to remove the silver from your utensils (with that cloth or silver polish), put the silverware into a pan lined with aluminium foil and add hot water, a hefty pinch of salt, and a bit of baking soda. You'll reduce the oxidized silver sulfide back to metallic silver.
CT
PS Why is this in the fashion section?
And for my final trick, if you don't want to remove the silver from your utensils (with that cloth or silver polish), put the silverware into a pan lined with aluminium foil and add hot water, a hefty pinch of salt, and a bit of baking soda. You'll reduce the oxidized silver sulfide back to metallic silver.
CT
PS Why is this in the fashion section?
I pity those that live in geothermal cities like Rotorua. Most there get their silverware rhodium plated ... at huge cost.
Ultrasonics are great for shaking dirt out of items, and are particularly useful for jewellers who have just polished an item which ends up with rouge in all the difficult to clean places. However, ultrasonics are only good for cleaning and not for removing tarnish. Also, you must be careful about what goes in there: no organic materials, no ferrous metals, nothing hollow, and only gemstones that can take the shake. As a rule of thumb, no green stones in the ultrasonic, but I qualify that by saying that some are okay, and many other types and colours of gemstone are not!
I was interested to read the Wikipedia entry and agree that silver foam is the best material for the home cleaner.
Ultrasonics are great for shaking dirt out of items, and are particularly useful for jewellers who have just polished an item which ends up with rouge in all the difficult to clean places. However, ultrasonics are only good for cleaning and not for removing tarnish. Also, you must be careful about what goes in there: no organic materials, no ferrous metals, nothing hollow, and only gemstones that can take the shake. As a rule of thumb, no green stones in the ultrasonic, but I qualify that by saying that some are okay, and many other types and colours of gemstone are not!
I was interested to read the Wikipedia entry and agree that silver foam is the best material for the home cleaner.
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275 Posts
Just bought some off of Ebay and they work really well. I think their product is simple, safe and works very nicely without any mess.
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7,066 Posts
I agree with Doug, Haggerty's is great. Polishing silver is near and dear to my heart, as my bagpipes have a large amount of hand chastened, UK hallmarked silver on them. To prevent tarnish, I add a coat of a microcrystalline wax, both to the silver and the wood. Probably not a good idea for eating utensils.
Of course, one can always take anything to a jeweler's for lathe buffing.
Of course, one can always take anything to a jeweler's for lathe buffing.
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