I haven't been posting much this past week because I've been polishing silver. And it is time consuming. Miserably time consuming.
I started off using Wright's silver polish – the purple stuff in the tub. It has served me well for the past 25 years. But it just wasn't cutting for the heavy duty tarnish on the new (to me) set.
If you look at the tarnished bowl on the right you can see how the tarnish is a slightly different color half way up the bowl. That's because previously it had been polished using the aluminum foil/baking soda and salt method (a method I do not recommend). The set was placed in a sink or tub and the water only partially covered the pieces. That part that soaked tarnished differently than the top part. It is MUCH harder to get that tarnish off.
Even after polishing one of the pieces with a ton of elbow grease you could still see that line of demarcation.
So I went back to the store and bought a product called Tarn-X. Nasty smelling stuff. Smells like rotting eggs. It is a clear liquid that you can either soak the pieces in (if you buy the industrial sized container) or you can dab at your tarnished silver with a cotton ball soaked in the stuff. It's still time consuming but it does a great job of getting rid of the tarnish.
You dab for a few minutes and then rinse the piece in cold water. I guess you don't want the liquid to stay in contact with the silver for too long. What I did was take a Tupperware container and sit the piece I was working on in it so any drips were contained.
It gave the piece a slightly yellow cast so after I finished removing the tarnish I went over the piece with the Wright's silver polish.
So here's a question for you silver aficionados – why would a silver set have two bowls? One has handles and the other doesn't. One has a lid the other doesn't. Is one for lemon slices and one for sugar?
Oh – and notice the frost on the deck railing? Baby it's cold outside!
Hi, Andrea! I think the extra bowl is called a “waste bowl” and is for used tea bags, lemon rinds and such. I’m sure someone else will tell us if that’s not right. I recently brought my mom’s silver set home since she is now in a nursing home. I’m not looking forward to cleaning it either but it’s too beautiful not to!
Sherry in Little Rock
Hello Andrea,
Thanks for your good wishes and yes bring on Chris Martin!!
J x
What a difference. Very Beautiful.
I love polished silver and never got into the tarnished look!
Okay – so I probably posted the best and funniest post I have ever done on my blog…my riding lesson photographed! ..and don’t laugh so loud that I might hear you!
Have a great week!
I found a set online with that extra bowl. I e-mailed the antique shop and this was their reply: “The bowl is for the tea leaves (or bags) that have been removed from the teapot. Some people also use them for blending loose teas.” Your set is gorgeous and you’re doing a great job polishing it up.
The second bowl is what we called a “slop” bowl. They also dumped cold coffee or tea in there so that they could get fresh. The problem around my little house is that I have a silver tea set from my mother and my husband’s mother. One is very grand, the other is lovely.
You can buy a tarnish removing metal square that sits in a pan. By adding hot, very hot water and washing soda and placing your silver piece on the metal place, the tarnish simply drops to the metal place, which you have to clean every once in awhile.
Very little polishing is needed after using this method. I expect that TarnX is about the same thing only in a bottle and it is much smellier than the metal plate.
I got my metal plate from Amazon. It cost $12.00 and was worth every penny.
Orinda
I always thought one was for sugar and the other was for sugar cubes… silly reasoning, so I was happy to read what the others had written. Now I know. My grandmother bought me an entire set of china, and it came with a coffee service. I called the company to complain because they sent me what I thought were two sugar bowls. I never knew why I had two. Thanks for asking the question.
By the way, I am completely green with envy over that set. Beyond beautiful.
Hi, I am very new at blogging, but I just had to comment on your use of Tarn X, I think if you don’t use rubber gloves it is harmful as are the fumes. I have some silver and was told to “never use that stuff”. I found a little yellow tube and I just can’t remember the name. Once I go home I will look and let you know.
Blogging looks like a whole new other world and cannot wait to get started. You ladies are wonderful inspirations.