Copper and silver polish?

[human]

Maybe it's just the stores' focus on essential supplies in the face of COVID-19 but I was surprised that I couldn't find copper polish or silver polish anywhere in town. These used to be commonly stocked items. Growing up, we always had jars of Twinkle copper polish and silver polish in the cabinet. In searching several stores, the only metal polish I could find was in the automotive section and every product there said specifically on the label that not to use it on silver. Have we actually devolved that far as a society in a single generation?

This little odyssey all started about a week ago when I got a silver-plated, twisted handle butter knife (the handle is perpendicular to the blade and thus equally usable with the right or left hand) that had a bit of tarnish on it. I thought I had a bottle of Haggerty's silver polish in the cabinet but alas, it was not to be found. All I can say is thank goodness for online vendors. Amazon had what I needed with free Prime shipping. The best deal was a two-pack with an 8-ounce tub each of Wright's Silver Cream and Wright's Copper Cream, so not only can I polish my butter knife, I can shine up my copper-bottomed RevereWare pots as well.

Shine on!

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I polish all of my silver with HAGGERTY

However, after each use, I wet the copper bottoms of the Revereware, sprinkle a little
Barkeeper's Friend". It brings back the shine in minutes. Just wipe with a paper towel.

 

[kirbyklekter]

And another product

that works really fantastic is a powder cleanser called "Zud." It's been around forever. It will clean the copper on your pots and pans as fast as you can apply it. Fold a wet paper towel and sprinkle a little Zud and wipe the tarnish away. No real scrubbing needed. Everybody I've told about this product is now using it on the regular. It has a little oxalic acid in the formula so not for painted glossy surfaces. I know you'll like it. You can just look it up on line to see the many uses it has, but only the powdered version.

 

[madman]

Honestly I don't see why Mother's Mag polish couldn't be used. Not sure if it says not to. I guess having silver stuff really isn't much of a 'thing' anymore.

 

[human]

Yes Barkeeper's Friend is good stuff. I used it to get rid of the oxidation on my Kirby G5 when I first acquired it. Instant gratification.

Zud—Wow, I'd forgotten about that stuff. We used to have that when I was growing up. I didn't know they still made it. I don't remember the last time I saw it.

The tub of Mother's that I have specifically says not to use it on gold- or silver-plate. Could be that it would strip the plating off. It probably would be okay for sterling.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I just saw ZUD

in the supermarket.

 

[lesinutah]

Zud

Is what I use. My wife has this crock pot type thing you put jewelry in it. I don't know the chemical but it cleans my ring and her ring. White gold and diamonds. I think jewelers use it for in house ring cleaning. I get all sorts of crap on mine plumbing commercial buildings.
Bar keepers friend is great. They have a spray foam cleaner. Its the best cleaner on g series vacuums and even older Kirby's. I used it an a grey scrubber on a G3. I had it clean disinfected and even a shine on it in less than 15 minutes. I dried it used mothers mag and it looked brand new. The older kirbys don't have as much plastic as g series.
Les

 

[real1shep]

Mothers Mag polish will go as far as you want to go with most metals. It's all in the elbow grease. However, what I found out is that you have to get the stuff completely off and protect the surface with something....like auto wax. Because if you don't, it will corrode again....even faster with the polish residue.

Kevin

 

[madman]

I read the label on Mother's Mag, it only says not to use it on gold plate, does not mention silver or silver plate. I don't see why it wouldn't work. I just polished some nickel plated pipes I made the other day.

 

[oldsuck]

"Copper Polish" Bah.

I recently saw "Aquarium Salt" in a pet store. It was $3 lb.
Kosher salt is the exact same thing for 75¢.
Marketing. Bless their black hearts.
Most polishes are the same. They’re just pumice in a suspension including glycerin (glycol), waxes, and/or oils for shine and protection.
I’ve used chrome polish on copper, copper polish on silver, silver polish on brass, tooth polish on platinum, etc,... You can’t tell the difference.
Now I just use common, white, automotive polishing compound on everything, all metals, plus it restores that factory-new sparkle to painted finishes, plastic, lacquer, Bakelite, lucite, Plexiglass, whatever.
I just used it on my silver. While I had it out, I did my Kitchenaid stand mixer too. It’s only a few years old and it looked fine, but now it has that new shine again that I didn’t even notice was gone.
For heavier oxidation, I start with the orange/brown rubbing compound, then polishing, then car wax if I want extra shine, though it isn’t usually necessary on metals.
It’s only $5 and it lasts Practically forever.

 

[human]

Proper tools for the job...

Not all polishes are created equal and none are equally suited for all polishing tasks. I certainly wouldn't use any abrasive polishes on silver or silver plate. Silver is very a soft metal and the abrasives will scratch the finish. A silver polish like Wright's Silver Cream just neutralizes and removes oxidation. The Wright's Copper Cream, which I just used to great success on my Revere Ware tea kettle, is very slightly abrasive but much less so than the Twinkle Copper Polish my mom used when I was a kid. Either of those is fine for copper clad pots like Revere Ware pots, which need to be clean and bright, but not for brass that needs a mirror finish. Brasso or Noxon are better suited for that because they aren't abrasive.

I've used the Turtle Wax products referenced above on car finishes, even to restore fogged headlights, if they're not too bad, and I've even used it to polish the aluminum on a Kirby, prior to giving it a final going over with Mother's but I've never used them on other metals.

 

[oldsuck]

"Proper Tools..."

I hear ya, human.
I certainly wouldn’t use the rubbing compound on fine silver or anything similar. That is to abrasive and better for aluminum, steel, chrome, etc,... but I’d like to see someone tell the difference between something polished with Wright’s next to something polished with ordinary polishing compound.