The Tarnish Hides the Patina

As I told you here my colors this Christmas are turquoise and lime green with highlights of silver.

Turquoise and green with some silver sparkle

I love the diffused lustre, patina if you will, of old well-used silver. I have inherited a few silver pieces which I want to use around the Christmas house but all of it (almost all) is tarnished beyond the recognition of silver.

Old silver

I wouldn’t have had enough hours in the day to clean all this gorgeous stuff except that our friendly silversmith has delivered a reuseable product that makes removing the worst tarnish almost effortless.

Goddard’s Silver Dip

It’s not that I don’t think tarnished pieces can be used effectively in decorating, it’s just that when one of the colors in the color scheme is SILVER, it’s more than a compromise to substitute BLACK.

A sugar bowl lid is transformed by just dipping it in the Goddard’s.

So I’m polishing some pieces and leaving them in conspicuous places to make the silver statement.

A silver tray for the mantel.

I’ve even decided to continue the silver accents throughout the winter since the teapot and accessories are bright and shiny once again.

The shiny teapot on the right in contrast to the not yet dipped creamer.

All this lustre puts me in the mood for a tea party.  Hmmm.

Do you have cleaning secrets that simplify the process?