In old times, silver tableware, serving dishes, candle holders and decoration objects couldn’t be missing from the household of the nobles. Nowadays many people still own some inherited pieces which are taken out from the dresser only at special events. The silver’s cold, subtile shine (compared to gold) provides more sophisticated, luxurious atmosphere to the table or our complete home.
Frequent usage keeps clean the silver objects, but after a longer storage they might become black. Various chemicals can be bought for cleaning silver (e.g. Sydol) but we can solve the problem with homemade practices also. The combination of kitchen foil-cooking soda-salt-warm water is the most common method. As far as possible, do not scrub the surface, rather soak the object in the liquid. Don’t put them into the dishwasher!
We can look after the authenticity of the inherited silverware by the hallmark. Most of the silver objects were signed, referring to the year, company and place of production, commonly in a less visible part, e.g. inner side of the foot.
Alfenide was a prevalent material in Hungary which was used instead of silver because its production was much cheaper. This is an alloy of nickel, copper and zinc which gives a well-workable material – then the end product was coated with silver. In this case scouring powder shouldn’t be used for cleaning because it scrubs the surface.
Ask for advice of a professional for buying antique silverware or evaluating your own collection. An interior designer can help you with arranging decoratively the silver ornaments and planning a really festive table set.