With proper care your silver will provide beauty, luxury, functionality and enjoyment for generations.  In our collections and those of our clients are pieces of silver that are hundreds of years old yet still as fine and lustrous as the day they were made.

Silver is not a high maintenance item and imparts to your home an elegance and old-money refinement that is timeless and universal.  If you want to acquire instant respectability, buy a piece of fine old silver.

Silver is the whitest, most reflective and the most conductive of all metals.  It has a depth and sensuous appeal that, like gold, has intrigued and delighted artists for thousands of years.

When silver is exposed to sulfur, it tarnishes.  Eggs and food items such as mayonnaise that are made from eggs quickly cause dark tarnish.  Other foods which damage silver if not washed off promptly include onions, pickles, olives, all foods containing salt; salad dressings, all acidic foods such as vinegars, tomato based products, fruit juices, mustard, ketchup and butter. 

Further, salt and foods with high salt content will corrode your silver.  Silver cannot be used to serve caviar for two reasons: the metal ruins the taste of the caviar, and the caviar immediately tarnishes the silver.

Sulfur also exists in the atmosphere in and around your home.  Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas emit large amounts of sulphur when burnt.  Many electric utilities use fossil fuels to generate electricity, therefore if you live near a power plant you may find that your silver tarnishes quickly.  The tarnishing action of these atmospheric gasses is accelerated by humidity, therefore if you live in a humid climate or operate a humidifier in your home, silver which is exposed to air will tarnish at a faster rate than in an arid climate.

The time to polish your silver is at the first appearance of yellowish haze.  When silver is neglected and the tarnish becomes darker, polishing becomes more difficult.

Rubber bands and latex products contain sulfur, therefore never bundle silver with rubber bands.  Long term contact with rubber will cause silver to turn black.  In some cases this darkening cannot be removed without professional machine buffing or grinding.

Sterling Flatware

Always hand wash your sterling flatware!

Use your sterling flatware every day.  Frequent use and hand washing will help keep your silver lustrous and bright.  Store your silver in a chest if you use it infrequently, or in a drawer if you use it every day.  The less contact your silver has with the atmosphere, the less tarnish you will see.  Silver stored in a chest and used regularly may not require polishing for months or even years.

Some manufacturers of sterling flatware say their silver can safely be washed in a dishwasher.  Please do not do that if you care at all about your silver! 

Dishwasher detergent is very corrosive.  Just as it removes the gold trim and design from your fine china and glassware, it will eventually do some damage to your silver. 

At the very least your silver will come out spotted and cloudy and will require a hand polish or a hand wash before use.  If the interior of your dishwasher is lined with stainless steel, the cloudiness will be even worse than if the interior is enamel.

(Likewise, you should never put your fine cutlery, such as Henkel knives, in the dishwasher.  It will ruin them.  In fact, nothing whatsoever that is not expressly labeled as dishwasher safe should be washed in an automatic dishwasher.  Fine crystal, such as Waterford, contains about 25% lead, which, when subjected to the very high heat in some dishwashers, will turn cloudy permanently.  Many makers of fine cookware and bakeware also recommend that you never put their products in a dishwasher.  The bottom line is this: nothing of value should ever be put in a dishwasher!)

If you insist on using a dishwasher to wash your silver, turn off the heat cycle and  use no detergent at all.  Some patterns of sterling, such as Wallace's Grande Baroque, have a factory applied oxidation to enhance the sculptural quality of the pattern.  Dishwasher detergent, with time, will ruin the factory oxidation and give your silver a bleached or powdery appearance.

Never allow sterling silver to come into contact with stainless steel flatware while in your dishwasher.  Many dishwasher detergents now carry a warning label expressly cautioning you not to permit silver to touch stainless steel.  Most also warn you not to allow the liquid detergent itself to touch sterling.

We recommend that you hand wash your sterling with mild liquid dish detergent.  The detergent should be free of phosphates and have no lemon content or lemon scent.

Note: To protect your skin (and your manicure) always wear vinyl plastic, nitrile, or latex gloves when washing or polishing your silver.  We prefer disposable plastic gloves as they are handy for all kinds of kitchen preparation needs.  Nitrile is a non-allergenic material that can be used by people who have an allergy to latex rubber.

If you have a stainless steel sink, it is best to put a large towel in the bottom of the sink so that the steel will not scratch the silver.

If you cannot bring yourself to hand wash your sterling, perhaps you should consider selling it on eBay to someone who has more time and inclination to care for it.

Polishing your sterling flatware

The best rule to follow when polishing silver is to first use the mildest and least abrasive polish, and progress to more aggressive polish only as necessary.

We use only Goddard's Silver Foam on all our silver.  Goddard's is also safe for silver plated items, which can easily be damaged by abrasive polishes. 

If the tarnish is more stubborn, you may use a stronger polish such as Wrights silver cream, or for exceedingly difficult tarnish you should use Simichrome metal polish. 

Please note that Wright's silver cream contains silica (i.e. sand) as an abrasive component, therefore you should be very careful when using it on either plated silver or highly polished silver.

Simichrome and other metal polishes can only be used on solid silver, and never on silver plated items, unless the plating is very thick.  

If you have antique silver, whether sterling, coin or plate, it is very important to remove tarnish while still preserving the ages old and highly desirable patina (the rich soft glow of fine lines and miniscule scratches acquired through use and age) of fine old silver.  Use only the mildest, least abrasive polish on these items.  

If the stainless steel blades of your knives become stained, discolored or rusty (yes, stainless steel does indeed stain) use Simichrome to remove the discoloration. 

Never use 'quick dip' type silver cleaners.

Never use any "quick dip" type of silver cleaner, regardless of maker. All of these quick dip cleaners contain thiourea which can damage your silver and dissolve the factory applied oxidation we discussed above.  Tarnex, for example, is simply a solution of thiourea.  Thiourea also has an unpleasant smell.  Never, never, never use quick dip silver cleaners.

Never use spray silver polishes.

Do not use spray type polishes.  Hagerty's Spray silver polish contains an ingredient identified by the State of California as a known cancer causing agent. The label warns of this carcinogen.  The spray also causes respiratory irritation, headache and nausea, and the product is highly flammable.  Do not use it. 

Spray polishes are also the most wasteful, hazardous and expensive of all polish.  Very little of the spray actually goes on the silver item; the majority of it goes on your hands, in the air (and in your eyes) and everywhere else except where it is needed and wanted.  Spray polishes are a waste of time any money, in addition to being hazardous to your health.

Never try to polish silver with toothpaste.  Toothpaste is extremely abrasive and will damage your silver, especially silver plated items.

Whoever it was who originated the practice of using tooth paste for silver polish, and all those who continue to recommend it, should be shot!

Sterling Hollowware

Silver hollowware, whether sterling or plated, is cared for in the same way as flatware. Hollowware is the term for articles in the form of hollow vessels such as mugs, teapots, pitchers, bowls, plates, trays and waiters.  It does not mean the item is hollow but simply that it is a vessel for holding.  A hollow handled knife is not hollowware.

Because hollowware may spend much of its life in storage, you may wish to wrap such items in re-sealable polyethylene bags, acid free tissue paper, or specially treated silver cloth or bags.  Never pack silver in newspapers!  Sulfur from the newsprint can ruin your silver. 

Never use any plastic wrap such as Saran Wrap as the wrap may fuse to the silver and defy removal.  Never use rubber bands to seal or wrap as the high sulfur content will damage the silver.

If your hollowware is on display, which we highly recommend, keep it dusted, because atmospheric particulates will settle on your silver and cause tarnish or even damage.  Some deep tarnish known as pits can result from corrosive dust particles. 

An occasionally polished and frequently dusted and washed silver item will provide lifetimes of enjoyment.  Rinse or wash your sterling hollowware before polishing, and always use a clean soft cloth.  It is surface dirt and dirt on polishing cloths which causes "swirls" in polishing silver or any other metal. 

Wash your hollowware immediately after using it for food service.  Do not allow foods such as salt, pickle juice, fruit juices, vinegar or tomatoes or any other acidic foods to remain on or dry on silver as serious deep tarnish called pits may result.  Pits sometimes cannot be removed, and in other cases they require professional wheel buffing or grinding. 

Enjoy your silver.  Use it every day, hand wash it, polish it with a mild non-abrasive polish at the first appearance of tarnish, and store it where it will have the least exposure to air.  With care, it will last for many lifetimes and bring pleasure and happy memories to you, your children and future generations.