Caring for your Silver

The typical corrosion product found on silver starts to turn light brown and gradually gets to a darker brown, black or occasionally has purple-blue tones, commonly known as tarnish. This corrosion product is not passivating, that is, the presence of tarnish doesn't stop the corrosion process from continuing underneath. Because it is rare for corrosion to occur evenly across the surface, the presence of pollutants such as acids found on fingerprints can cause pits to form under the surface layer of tarnish. These will not be apparent until the surface is cleaned.

Polishing Silver

The golden rule is 'gently does it'. My favorite silver polish is the 250ml spray just spray onto your silver, let it dry and use a luxury duster to clean. In some cases, such as pieces with relief decoration, removing all tarnish can be hard, so use a soft or old toothbrush to get into the relief. Always take a step back at regular intervals to look at the object as a whole - as you may have missed off some tarnish behind.

Silver Dip

Goddard's silver dip can be purchased online and in most supermarkets. It can seem like an easy alternative to polishing. It's not my preferred option as it has a really bad smell. However, it can remove the corrosion as it has a chemical action and tends to over-clean. It does remove all corrosion and can leave the surface looking 'lifeless'. Since it reacts with the silver component of the silver corrosion product, it can also attack the silver of the surface of the object. Removing residues can be difficult because and you need to avoid immersing objects in the water. If there are any lead solder repairs on your piece, the silver dip will turn them black.

Remember, not all silver was intended to be polished, for example, matte surfaces or Russian niello, a dark material pushed into engraved areas.  Know your object before you start as these finishes are easily damaged.

Silver can also deliberately be 'oxidised', that is, a dark surface is chemically produced on the surface. This was particularly popular as a finish in the 19th century, although it is quite rare for it to survive intact, as it is easily polished away by using an impregnated silver cleaning cloth or mitts. The example shown is made of silver, with some areas gilded (known as parcel-gilt), and other areas darkened or oxidised.

Silver Gilt

Silver-gilt carries a silver mark. Silver tarnish can develop on the gilded surface through minute gaps in the gilding. Silver-gilt is cleaned in the same way as silver, although be extremely cautious you do not remove the gilded layers as they can be very thin, relatively soft and are easily polished away, going through to the silver. Items can be regilded but the silversmith would probably have to remove all the gold plating first and they would never be able to match the colour gold again.