Sterling silver
92.5% silver, and the only material here where the standard domestic treatment permanently removes some of the object. Tarnish contains silver, so cleaning it off costs silver.
What not to do
Mild abrasion may damage Sterling silver
Best avoided
The available guidance advises against this.
Polishing creams, wadding and rouge sticks. Both conservation bodies name these as the damage rather than the treatment.
Why we say this
Supported
Two conservation authorities agreeing. Recorded as may damage at avoid rather than unsafe on because a controlled polish is not forbidden — it is a cost, and the record is about the cost being cumulative and irreversible.
Sources
Conservation Information Sheet: Looking after silver
Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), via Museums & Galleries of NSW · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That polishing creams, wadding and rouge sticks contain abrasive compounds as well as corrosive acids, remove much more of the silver surface than a cloth or dip, leave fine scratches and diminish engraved decoration. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Silver components; Silver damage and how to reduce it, items 1-7; Recommended storage and display materials; How to clean silver. Supports the claim as stated.
Caring for your collections: Silver and plate
The Institute of Conservation (Icon) · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That wadding, creams and rouge sticks are abrasive compounds which remove silver surface, and that abrasive cleaners wear away silver and engraving with repeated cleaning. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The tarnish, cleaning, and methods-to-avoid sections. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
In detail
Sterling silver is 92.5% silver with 7.5% copper, and hallmarks are how you tell it from plate. What makes it unusual in this catalogue is that its normal maintenance is subtractive: tarnish is silver sulphide, tarnish CONTAINS silver, and both conservation bodies read here state that every cleaning takes a little of the metal with it. That reframes the question from how to clean it to how seldom you can. The museum position is restraint — routine or aggressive polishing is not a good idea, and for everyday items tarnish removal should be kept to a minimum using only the mildest non-abrasive methods. The methods separate cleanly. Silver cleaning cloths are the routine option for light tarnish on plain undecorated pieces. A silver dip is permitted for heavier tarnish, with the conditions attached: gloves, fresh solution, and rinsed thoroughly, because dip left in crevices keeps corroding and produces a green crust. Polishing creams, wadding and rouge sticks are the damage — abrasive compounds carrying corrosive acids, which remove far more surface than a cloth or a dip, leave fine scratches and wear away engraving.
Properties
Sensitivity
- Acids
- Recorded
- Abrasion
- Recorded
- Porous
- Not applicable
“Not known” means CleaningHQ has not established this, not that the material is unaffected.
Why
- Sterling silver is explained by Polishing removes metal
Related
- Sterling silver is commonly affected by Tarnish
Hacks and claims involving this
When the obvious answer is wrong
How do I get tarnish off silver-plated cutlery without wearing the plating through?
That sentence is also the problem. Tarnish CONTAINS silver, so removing it always removes a little metal, and abrasive polishes carry corrosive acids as well as abrasive compounds. On solid silver that is a slow recurring cost. On plate the silver is only microns thick, so the same treatment is a countdown - and the museum sheet records how it ends: over-polishing plated silver removes the plating and exposes dull base metal that CAN BE MISTAKEN FOR TARNISH. The reader then polishes harder, on the one area with nothing left.
A different kind of treatment works: Work out which you have first, because the answer diverges and hallmarks are how you tell. On plate, drop down the escalation rather than up it. Both conservation bodies read here direct a silver cleaning CLOTH as the routine treatment for light tarnish on plain undecorated pieces, and the museum sheet states that a cloth or a dip removes far less surface than a polishing cream does. For heavier tarnish the UK professional body permits a silver DIP, with conditions that are not optional: follow the container instructions, wear gloves, use fresh solution, and rinse thoroughly - dip left in crevices keeps corroding and produces a green crust. Electrochemical cleaners, including the aluminium-foil-and-bicarbonate method, are ruled out by both bodies as a class. The larger answer is to clean less.
Sources for this page
Sources
Caring for your collections: Silver and plate
The Institute of Conservation (Icon) · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That UK sterling is 92.5% silver with 7.5% copper, that cloths suit light tarnish and a silver dip heavier tarnish with gloves and thorough rinsing, that wadding, creams and rouge sticks are abrasive and remove surface, that brass and chrome cleaners are unsuitable, and that electrochemical cleaners must never be used. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The tarnish, cleaning, and methods-to-avoid sections. Supports the claim as stated.
Conservation Information Sheet: Looking after silver
Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), via Museums & Galleries of NSW · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That tarnish is silver sulphide and contains silver so a little metal is lost at every cleaning, that abrasive polishes carry corrosive acids and remove much more than a cloth or dip, that dip left in crevices continues corroding, and that fingerprints left long enough etch into the surface. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Silver components; Silver damage and how to reduce it, items 1-7; Recommended storage and display materials; How to clean silver. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .