CLEANING PEWTER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 445, 29 August 1928, Page 7

CLEANING PEWTER

AN EXPERT’S ADVICE “Few collectors of pewter care to have their old pewter cleaned or polished, as they prefer the very soft and charming colour which is produced by the slight oxidising of the surface of the alloy. The change produced by the action of the air on the metal is very slow, and good pewter will retain its freshness for a great number of years. “If, however, it is desired to have pewter bright, it may be made so by soaking it for a few days in water in which a little potash has been dissolved, and afterwards rubbing with a leather and oil. Sometimes sand is used, but it is apt to scratch the metal; and the same objection applies to emery cloth. Fine Trent sand and rotten-stone, mixed with a few drops of olive oil, is excellent; it is as soft as silk and wiil not scratch the metal. Fine powdered chalk, with a little oil, applied with a leather, is also cleaning material, but care should be taken that the chalk does not contain any grit. “A still better method is to use a mixture of paraffin and rotten-stone applied with a soft rag and afterwards polished with a wash-leather. The article should always be rubbed circularly, and not across. “Pewter vessels which have become black or stained, or which have been varnished, may be restored to almost original colour by being slowly boiled for many hours in a pan of water in w r hich has been placed a wisp of hay. This has a most cleansing effect on the metal and it does not do the slightest damage. * “When pewter has been once thoroughly cleaned it will be sufficient to wish it occasionally with hot water and soap and afterwards rub it with a leather.” These are some of the hints taken from the second and enlarged edition of Major C. A. Markham’s excellently illustrated book, “The New Pewter Marks and Old Pewter Ware.”