Polishing Tips for Silver

[euphm]

Polishing Tips for Silver

It isn't dirty marks, its sort of looks like light abrasion marks. Instead of the plating being one whole plate, there are lines criss crossing it now and they feel rough.

-I did find that some of the marks were due to polish not being cleaned all the way off.

[carbogast]

Polishing Tips for Silver

It's possible that there was a few particles of dirt, sand, etc, on the cloth used to apply or remove the polish. I've done this myself and learned to be really careful about using a clean cloth and being careful about where I set it down. It can be a problem if you are working outside (as nice as that can be!).

- Carroll

[davewerden]

Polishing Tips for Silver

(Bump) This topic had disappeared, so I just restored it.

[tdc3]

Polishing Tips for Silver

Just got a silver plated King 623SP baritone/euph for my son (off ebay). Since I've only had brass+lacquer finishes before, I'm a little confused about cleaning a silver plated instrument. From what I can tell, I can still clean it in the tub with warm water and very mild liquid detergent (e.g., Ivory liquid). But when it comes to polishing, I'm confused. I assume that it has clear lacquer sprayed over the silver (is there some obvious way to tell?). Is there a different polishing regime for lacquer and non-lacquer silver plated instruments? Thanks!

[RickF]

Polishing Tips for Silver

It would be very unusual if your silver horn also had a lacquer coating on it. A lacquer coating over silver will turn the silver yellow. Silver normally stands up to frequent use pretty well. Polishing it once every 4 to 6 months is about normal.

I usually use Hagerty's silver polish. The spray on / wipe off works real well for those hard to reach areas like the valve cluster. For the larger areas, I use Hagerty's polishing gloves.

Hope this helps.

[keithbarton]

Polishing Tips for Silver

I looked and hope this comment isn't redundant. I took a silver polish cloth - the two-part cloth, one for initial cleaning and the other for polishing - and cut it into 1 inch strips. I wet the first cloth strip with water and used it to clean the horn. Ran it into all the nooks and crannies like a piece of dental floss. Then I took another strip from the second cloth and used it to polish the horn running it into the same areas the same as with the first cloth. Result was well worth it and took about an hour to really get in there and clean it. Horn should be much easier to keep clean with minimal maintenance on the exterior.

The horn was Arthur Lehman's old horn which he bought 60 years ago in 1948. There are places on the horn where the silver plate has worn away and brass is visible but over all the horn is in good condition and polished up nicely. I guess many of you have newer horns and in better condition, but they would sparkle and shine using the method I mentioned. Probably be less work for you since they are "newer" and "cleaner"?

[SteveS]

Polishing Tips for Silver

Originally posted by: davewerden

Maybe someone else can tell us technically/scientifically what happens when you polish. However, I believe it is a good idea if done properly.

Probably it depends on whether the polish contains only abrasives for physical removal of tarnish, or just antioxidants, or both. Polishes for fine silver probably rely partly on antioxidants. A bit of internet research turned up info about one antioxidant, thiourea, that has been effective in silver polishing applications. Alternate antioxidants might be part of the formula of modern polishes, but the thiourea example provides a look at the type of chemistry that's involved. Long story short - the tarnish that forms on silver is silver sulfide, formed by reaction of silver with hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in air.

Silver Sulfide

Antioxidants react with silver sulfide to release the sulfur back into the air as hydrogen sulfide. The antioxidant may also complex with the silver, protecting it from further reaction, at least for a while I suppose, until the complex is undone by reaction with more H2S, reforming the tarnish. The case of how the area in silver polish reacts with silver sulfide is laid out in the info below.

Chemical principles

It stands to reason that if abrasive is the main mode of tarnish removal, you're also removing silver in the form of silver sulfide. The antioxidant method reacts with the silver but does not remove it.

Steve

[scapino]

Polishing Tips for Silver

The more you polish the more silver is lost. I had a Clark Terry flugel horn for 20 years and I was totally amazed at how infrequently it required polishing. Once after my ex-step children played with it and once when I sold it. I was meticulous about keeping it clean and I kept it in a leather gig bag with a brass zipper that extended more that three quarters around the bag.

[Lengz00]

Polishing Tips for Silver

I own a nice Silver Besson Sovereign 968, she's about 8 years old. I've always taken good care of her, but after a few years, some dark spots started appearing on the top of the bell. I tried to wipe them off using water and a soft cloth, but they wouldn't disappear! I'm not sure what's causing it, they doesn't show from a distance, only up close...



Does anyone have an idea what's causing it? And how do I get rid of them?



Also, an instrument repairsman was clumsy enough to make 2 BIG scratches on the bell once, I complained to him about it, and he came back with this cream, that he polished the scratches with. And they disappeared! The only thing is, two years after they were made and "fixed", they're visible again!

And I'm wondering what kind of cream he could have used? (It was on a tube, and as far as I can remember, the tube was brown-yellowish or something like that....). Any tips and hints would be very much appreciated!

[davewerden]

Polishing Tips for Silver

Not sure about the scratches, but the dark spots are covered in this thread. Check my post on 11/11/2006 05:22 PM (page 1 of this thread).

[scapino]

Polishing Tips for Silver

silver plate restorer

http://www.dwerden.com/talk/fo...did=2050&enterthread=y

[davewerden]

Polishing Tips for Silver

Originally posted by: scapino silver plate restorer http://www.dwerden.com/talk/fo...did=2050&enterthread=y

Note that this is to replate the finish in spots. I am guessing that is more drastic than you need to remove black spots. Might help with the scratches. If you try it for that, please let us know how it works.

[Nuck81]

Polishing Tips for Silver

How about laquered brass?



I read on a trumpet forum that a shot of old fashioned Pledge on a cloth once or twice a month is all laquered brass really needs. Anyone have any experience using Pledge? It almost seems to easy to be true.....

[daruby]

Polishing Tips for Silver

Pledge works great. Used it for years. I have some spray mist stuff that I got in Switzerland that is lacquere polish for brass instruments and Saxophones. Works just like pledge.

Doug

[Nuck81]

Polishing Tips for Silver

Thanks Mr Ruby,



Now I can pretend I'm playing in a grove of lemon trees....