Old silver plated cutlery - I want to use it every day. Any tips, please?

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I posted this in Chat but have had no replies so I hope someone here can help.

My DH's amazing grandmother gave us a canteen of silver plated cutlery when she downsized and we were students. It has been in a cupboards for years. I thought that the reason that the fork tines were black was because the plating had come off but as a last chance before getting rid, I Googled and found a tinfoil and bicarb cleaning method.

Nothing ventured nothing gained and now the cutlery is glowing in my cutlery drawer and I'm thrilled to bits. I want to use the cutlery every day as a lovely reminder of a very special person - who was also not the type to keep things 'for best'.

So - I know they mustn't go in the dishwasher and egg based dishes need the old stainless steel stuff. Can I get a sturdy pot to go by the dishwasher and put water in it, then when the kids clear the table, cutlery goes in there and gets a hot soapy swill? Will this damage the cutlery?

I have a wooden cutlery tray in the kitchen drawer and they'll live in that.

here is some useful information

Use ecover washing up liquid much kinder to silver than the harsh type, but I wouldn't leave them too long, when drying them give them really good rub.

[[http://www.google.co.uk/#q=lined+cutlery+tray&hl=en&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=YjAqUbGxJuTK0AXqiIHwAw&sqi=2&ved=0CGIQsxg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42768644,d.d2k&fp=77901ada4cd8d601&biw=1121&bih=596 if you can line your divider all the better.

www.google.co.uk/#q=lined+cutlery+tray&hl=en&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=YjAqUbGxJuTK0AXqiIHwAw&sqi=2&ved=0CGIQsxg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42768644,d.d2k&fp=77901ada4cd8d601&biw=1121&bih=596

you can wash in soapy water. To polish off the tarnish, use Goddards Silver Foam which is a sort of pink soap in a tub with tarnish-removing agents. John Lewis own-brand looks the same. A tub will last for years. This means you sponge them and don't need to rub much. Don't throw them in the sink and let them rattle around scratching each other. If you are fond of needlework you can make a soift cotton roll to keep them in. Never allow rubber bands or newsprint to touch them as it will corrode.

Try not to rub your plated silverware hard as you will rub the silver off.

p.s.

Goddards silver foam is not abrasive

sorry, it is now called Goddards Silver Pad

The Aluminium Foil method, and other dip-type cleaners, chemically remove the tarnish but leave a slightly white, frosted finish rather than an old polished look. I have never used the foil method on plate, only on solid.

You can wash them in the dishwasher, just not at the same time as stainless steel (not bone handled knives, though).

You can buy a kind of pad you put into a washing up bowl, and you put all your cutlery on top, making sure at least one piece if touching the pad, then you pour hot water on the whole lot, and leave them for about 10 minutes. They come up pretty well then. To stop them tarnishing again, you need to wrap them in acid free tissue paper after use.

Alternatively if you give them a good clean with red jewellers paste from time to time, that will keep them in good shape as well.

Thanks for your advice everyone. I did use the aluminium foil method to clean them and it worked beautifully. They have a warm sheen to them now. In fact they are so lovely, I may have to get more on Ebay.