Gah! My tablespoons have gone orange!!

[WhereBeThatBlackbirdTo]

I have two old (great auntie passed down to me old) EPNS tablespoons. They are much loved, used daily, and always bunged in the dishwasher to clean them.

I opened the dishwasher this morning and they have both gone bright orange. Nothing else in the d/w is affected, same d/w tablets we usually use, and the spoons were not used for any strange purpose before washing.

Any ideas how to de-orange them? So far I've tried simply soaking then scrubbing and then soaking in diluted Milton (this turned bits of them green so hoiked them out sharpish!)

Help!! Great aunt Agnes would be furious with me!

I clean silver items with toothpaste. If that doesn't work, suggestions here www.doityourself.com/stry/silver#b

They might be nickel plate or silverplate and the plating has worn off.

It sounds like the copper underplate is showing through.

Cleaning chemicals will not help.

You can get products which put a thin layer of silver plate back, with names like re-nu or re-silver. The coating is very thin and soft but adequate for ornamental purposes.

A friend suggested using vinegar. This worked a treat, lovely silver-ish spoons again. Until, that is, I decided to leave them soaking in it - so now they're green.

Wish there was a emoticon!!