Collecting Guide: How to care for silver

Silver should be stored wrapped in dry, acid-free tissue paper and placed inside cotton or Tarnprufe bags. It should not be kept near to or touching smoke, household paints, rubber, newspaper, wool, felt or velvet. It is also advised that it should not be kept inside oak furniture due to the wood’s acidic nature. Silver that has been lacquered can be stored without special protection — although it might be sensible to cover each piece with acid-free tissue paper to protect from dust.

Over time, tarnish can appear on silver items as a dull, grey or black film. Silver dip can be used to remove this coating. Contrary to the name, you should never submerge silver in silver dip, but should apply it with cotton wool, before drying pieces with a soft linen tea towel and then polishing with a silver cloth.

Try to avoid getting silver dip into hollow decorations — such as fruit or small figures — as they may prove difficult to rinse and then dry thoroughly. Silver polish provides a more long-term solution to tarnish removal as, unlike silver dip, it leaves a protective layer on the item’s surface. Don’t be tempted to use solutions designed for other materials, such as copper or brass.

For small objects use a hog’s hair brush, not a toothbrush or household paintbrush, because these are too abrasive. If necessary, use a cotton bud: dip this into silver dip and work gently into crevices to remove the tarnish before rinsing and drying.

Although it’s tempting to remove tarnish as soon as it appears, ideally silver should be cleaned as little as possible. The abrasive nature of polish can damage engraved decorations, as well as causing holes in embossed work or eroding the surface of Sheffield plate.

To avoid abrasion when cleaning, consider switching harsh polish for hot, soapy water, rinsing and then drying your silver before budding with a soft cloth specially made for silver — Goddard’s Long Term Silver Cloth is ideal. Silver should never, however, go in the dishwasher.

Silver that has been properly dried does not tarnish as easily. After removing damp from silver with a soft linen cloth, it should either be placed in a drying cabinet at 50-60°C for 15-30 minutes, or dried using a hair dryer kept at least 15cm away from the silver. However, do not use this method if the object has handles or other fittings of wood or ivory, since these could become damaged.

When cleaning silver, rest it on your hand, rather than on a hard work surface, and work gently in a circular motion. Wearing cotton gloves when handling silver is recommended, so as not to leave fingerprints, which contain potentially damaging acids.

Where silver is used as tableware, be aware that foods including eggs, Brussels sprouts, vinegar and salt all tarnish the material very quickly. It’s important to wash silver soon after it has come into contact with these.