How to polish silver?

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Forum -> Household Management -> Cleaning & Laundry

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amother

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 11:31 am

Ok, I know I'm going to sound really dumb, but how exactly do you polish your silver?
I have a liquid cleanser which I put onto a shmatteh and rub the whole peice of silver. I then wipe it dry with a clean shmatteh. But am I supposed to rinse it under water before that?
What is the method?
TIA.

jewgal84 ↓

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 11:34 am

We have a spray that we use and it causes the silver to turn pink. Then we scrub it off with a shmatte and when it's completely rubbed off, we'll rinse it under hot water.

The only reason why I would assume ppl would wash it off before hand is if there may be any dirt or perhaps wax on the candlesticks, then you may want to soak it under hot water, easing the wax off!

queen

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 12:09 pm

I first wash the piece with hot water and soap. (rids any 'dirt')
then using my husband's old undershirts, and an old toothbrush- scrub VERY hard with polish. The harder you scrub- shinier they become.
Then rinse off, and hand dry. (not air dry as that leaves drying marks)

Squash

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 12:20 pm

If you use liquid silver polish - smear it all over the silver, let it dry. then rinse off and dry with shmateh. This is much easier than taking off the polish with a shmateh. I tried this the first time on sunday and it worked beautifully.

chocolate moose ↓

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 12:21 pm

I also have a treaed shmattah that works well. from a jewlery store about $3.

batya_d ↓

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 3:00 pm

chocolate moose wrote:

I also have a treaed shmattah that works well. from a jewlery store about $3.

Does the treated cloth really work as well as real silver polish?

We use the pink cream-- has anyone found that they spray works better? Mine certainly gets the tarnish off, but the shine is not what I'd like, even though I buff after cleaning off the polish.

↑ chocolate moose

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 3:03 pm

I find the shmattah works well if you're doing a bracelet or a few forks.

greenfire

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 3:51 pm

There are some polishes that you are actually not supposed to wash off cause will help slow down how quickly it gets tarnished. However that is good for leichter not for becher which we drink from.

↑ jewgal84

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 6:41 pm

batya_d wrote:

chocolate moose wrote:

I also have a treaed shmattah that works well. from a jewlery store about $3.

We prefer the spray over cream!

↑ batya_d

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 6:47 pm

Thanks, I'll try the spray when we run out of cream.

sunnymom

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 8:40 pm

I used to use the cream and it was such a pain. I found these dry wipes by hagerty and they are really great. No polish, no water, no mess and it really takes off the tarnish and makes the silver shine, and it's really easy!!!

mama247

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 10:22 pm

I used the cream for a long time and really liked it, but then my mil introduced me to the spray (she has the shiniest silver on the planet!) and I like it a lot except for a) the fumes are horrendous. has to be done by a window or outside. and b) if you have a piece with a lot of crevices and/or intricate designs it can be a bit of a pain. you have to use a tooth pick to get it out. that doesn't happen with the cream.
I just found those treated wipes and they are great for when I'm in a rush, but I noticed that stuff tarnishes much more quickly than when I use the spray or cream.
As for washing stuff off, just follow the instructions on the bottle! Obviously, the cream gets washed off. The liquid you put on a shmate, I believe is just supposed to be wiped off with a clean shmate. No washing. Same with the spray.

Ruby

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 11:06 pm

Bed Bath and Beyond sell the most awesome silver wipes in the world. They are dry wipes as opposed to the wet wipes that they sell in some judaica stores and tarnish quickly. These wipe shine the silver so nicely and it lasts for a while. I think they cost about 5 or 6 dollars for tne fo them but you can use one wipe for a bunch of silver. Good Luck.

chanab

Wed, Jan 03 2007, 8:06 am

That spray has a few warnings about causing Yeneh machla in the state of California and to spray in a well ventilated area etc etc. Can´t be too healthy.

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