11 Mar 2013

Liv Gets Crafty: wedding silver

If you happen to be new here (hey! Hi! Hiya!!), I should probably start this post by telling you that next year I am lucky enough to be marrying the man of my dreams (check out our engagement photos here!). As I very quickly found out, weddings are actually ridiculously expensive and people weren't just overreacting. With this in mind, we are DIY-ing as much as we can to pinch the pennies! I want to have some gorgeous silver wear on all the tables as decoration , so we have been spending a whole lot of time tea set hunting! And low and behold- seek and gems shall be found!! We picked up this gorgeous set last weekend for $20 at the markets! Bargain!


Obviously they are in need of a good scrub and a bit of love, but I think polishing them up to their former glory (or as much as possible) is a big part of what makes vintage collecting such an adventure! I took some before and after cleaning piccys for my Instagram feed and have had a few people ask me what I used, so I thought it would be easier to just show you!

Being plated silver (like the majority you will find in op-shops/markets/thrifting) you need to be really careful with the chemicals you are using. Generic silver cleaner or tarn-off will literally start to rub away the shiny silver finish on your collectables and expose the metal underneath. Not so pretty any more are you tea pot!!!

So to clean them up as gently as possible, you will need:

- A large bucket/container
- Alfoil
- Bi-carb soda
- Hot water
So, to easily brighten up your silver and metal items, all you need to do is:


1.
Cover the bottom of your container with alfoil- silver side up.

2. Add bi-carb soda to the foil

3. Add your item and pour boiling water over it until its fully submerged (if your item is particularly delicate or old, you can use hot instead of boiling water.

4. Leave in the bucket for 15-30 minutes and watch the tarnish fade away!



5. Some especially dark tarnished items may need a double or triple dip.

6. The items will come out with a slight white residue that buffs away to a perfect shine.

So that's it! Clean, shinny and restored silver plated goodies! And you may even discover an engraving like we did!!

Do you collect any vintage goodies???
Have you ever tried this cleaning technique before?? 

7 comments:

  1. Oh it looks so easy! :) Great tip, thank you for sharing :)

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  2. Fantastic! Thanks for the tip, although I don't know if I'll find a pot big enough for all mine!

    We must talk girl!!

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  3. This is a pretty neat idea. I don't think I have a DIY bone in my body, so I have no idea what I'm going to do come wedding time.

    7% Solution​

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  4. Wow - they came up great! I can't wait to see more wedding DIY stuff from you :D

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  5. Wow, these are amazing, they look really beautiful, you did a nice job.

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  6. i am a op shop fanatic - i have siver teapots etc etc........i haven't cleaned them yet but will give this a go. Keep an eye out at op shops - these things come up quite a lot...

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