Rebecca J. Phipps asked :
>What is a good, safe way to clean silver plated objects?

I am assuming that you wish to remove tarnish from the silver plated item. First
of all you need to take a good look at the item in question. If the silver plate
is intact, then you could safely use one of the commercial silver dips, being
careful to follow the instructions.

If the silver plate is excessively worn, or in some way damaged, so that the
underlying metal (usually brass) is visible, then you'd be better off cleaning
the item with a commercial silver polish. Avoid Brasso at all costs - it's much
to agressive and will remove more silver than is necessary.

In both cases, you should coat, or otherwise protect the item after cleaning to
prevent the tarnish from re-occurring. If the item is likely to be handled on a
regular basis, or go on display,  then I'd go for a coating. If it is only going
to go into storage, then you could consider some of the commercial inhibitor or
carbon impregnated cloth bags designed to store silver in.

I don't know what coating products are available in the USA, but here in
Australia we use a product made by Wattyl, called "Incralac". It's basically an
acrylic with BTA added as a corrosion inhibitor.

Hope this helps you

George Bailey
Objects Conservator
Australian War Memorial

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).