Storing China and Silverware
Does anyone have any recommendations on the best way to package and store old and delicate China and Silver, probably plated, cutlery please?
I was left some a while back, and would like to wash it it all, and wrap it up for long term storage, as i am moving up to Uni in September.
I was thinking of gently wash the plates etc with a weak washing up liquid and warm water, let them dry naturally after rinsing, and then wrap each one in newspaper and bubblewrap, and the same for the silver. The last thing i want though is to unwrap them i years to come and find that i have damaged them or, have left newspaper print all over them.
Thanks in advance.
Re: Storing China and Silverware
Sounds like a plan, but dont expect the silver to be shiny when you unpack it, as it will oxodise and go dark
Re: Storing China and Silverware
I'd use brown wrapping paper (they stuff you get loads of from Amazon orders :p) for the china. If you are really concerned about the silverware you could lightly oil them then wrap in baking paper - might just delay the tarnishing process a little.
Re: Storing China and Silverware
Thanks.
I'm not too fussed about tarnishing on the silver, its already tarnished, and i'd rather clean it all later than clean it now and have to do it again. I guess its possible damage it through over-cleaning? What sort of oil might be best, i might explore this option some more. Castor oil?
Brown paper is a good idea, i'll try and get hold of some.
Cheers.
Re: Storing China and Silverware
Castor oil might go off, I'd probably go for a light mineral oil. You can get sprays/small containers from music instrument shops or even baby oil should be basically the same stuff (just has some added perfume).
Re: Storing China and Silverware
Excellent, thanks for the assistance chaps.
Re: Storing China and Silverware
The only problem I could see with oil is it drying out and going sticky. Acid free tissue paper would help preserve the silverware - this is one source, http://www.staples.co.uk/acid-free-t...bs/198648.html but google acid free tissue paper and you'll find more.
You can damage silver plate by over cleaning - eventually the plate wears off, so if you aren't going to use it for a while, then yes, clean it later. You may be able to get some preservative designed for the job.
One other thought would be to clean the silver, wrap it in tissue paper and then put it in ziplock bags. You can remove most of the air by immersing the bag in water 9up to the opening, obviously!) before closing it.
The china is probably less of a problem, apart from its fragility. Tissue paper round each item, then newspaper and bubble wrap should be fine. Make sure there is something between each surface (don't let the glazed surfaces rub against each other).
Re: Storing China and Silverware
The only problem I could see with oil is it drying out and going sticky. Acid free tissue paper would help preserve the silverware - this is one source, http://www.staples.co.uk/acid-free-t...bs/198648.html but google acid free tissue paper and you'll find more.
You can damage silver plate by over cleaning - eventually the plate wears off, so if you aren't going to use it for a while, then yes, clean it later. You may be able to get some preservative designed for the job.
One other thought would be to clean the silver, wrap it in tissue paper and then put it in ziplock bags. You can remove most of the air by immersing the bag in water 9up to the opening, obviously!) before closing it.
The china is probably less of a problem, apart from its fragility. Tissue paper round each item, then newspaper and bubble wrap should be fine. Make sure there is something between each surface (don't let the glazed surfaces rub against each other).
Re: Storing China and Silverware
Excellent, i'll try and get some acid free paper then. I think i'd rather clean the silver at a later date, to help keep costs down now!
Cheers.
Re: Storing China and Silverware
The right grade oil shouldn't evaporate, but going dry with acid-free paper is not a bad alternative - I don't know if any of the treatment to create baking paper would remain and ever come out to affect any un-oiled bits of silver.
Re: Storing China and Silverware
Now I'm really no expert on silverware so take what I say with a pinch of salt, but looking at it from a chemistry PoV, silver shouldn't tarnish in a protective atmosphere e.g. under distilled water or mineral oil as suggested above.
Alternatively you could, again with a sealed container, use some activated charcoal to absorb the sulphur compounds which cause the tarnish. And with some searching it seems you can get purpose-made anti-tarnish bags which presumably work the same way, and might be a fairly practical solution.
Re: Storing China and Silverware
Well, i got everything out yesterday, and got it ll packed up for long term storage.
The Silver was plated, (EPNS marks) and was already heavily tarnished, so i elected to just wrap each piece in acid free tissue paper so i can put off cleaning it until a later date.
I might have tried some of the Anti Tarnish bags, had i known and been able to get some i time, but i'll certainly try and remember them for next time.
Thanks again for all the tips chaps, hopefully this thread will be of use to others in the future too.