SHINING SILVER

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21377, 21 June 1939, Page 10

SHINING SILVER

When there is damp in the air silver articles become very dull and tarnished. Here is a novel and easy way of bringing back the shine to your table silver.

Into an enamel bowl large enough to take the articles to be cleaned pour boiling waten, then add half a teacup of ordinary washing soda for every one and a-half pints of water. Place ths articles to be cleaned in this solution and then drop in a few pieces of aluminium scrap. You will be surprised to find how quickly this metal, together with the soda, acts on your silver; in a few seconds it will look like new.

To save the continual cleaning of silver photo frames, vases, toilet articles, etc., they can be coated with a transparent solution. Clean them thoroughly first either by the soda-aluminium method or by rubbing with jeweller’s rouge powder. Then in an old jam jar or basin dissolve half an ounce of ordinary cooking gelatine in a pint of hot water so as to make a syrupy solution. Add one tiny crystal of potassium bichromate, which will be sufficient to give the solution a light lemon colour (You can buy half an ounce of potassium bichromate at any chemist’s). Apply this warm mixture to the silver articles with a camel hair brush, being careful to give a smooth, even coating, especially at the corners or in any crevices.

Do not be afraid that this yellow substance will give a yellowish tint to your silver. As a matter of fact the action of light on gelatine containing potassium bichromate is to render it colourless.

This coating will be unaffected by temperature changes and will not harm your silver, which will retain its shine beneath the solution. But as potassium bichromate is poisonous do not use this coating for your table silver or anything that comes into direct contact with food.