(I named them to help keep order among my files).
The Round Tray
The Scallop-edge Tray.
Looks like the silver plate has worn through to the underlying copper in a few places.
The Scallop-edge tray has these three little feet, a nice detail.
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| Scallop-edge tray foot, pre-polish. |
The Rope-edge Tray
So what is a freestyler to do to clean these tarnished trays? I don't maintain a collection of antique anything that needs polishing, yet it seems that special silver polish is really the best way to clean silver plated items.
Solution: Creative Roommate convinced her mother to loan us some silver polish, lets all give thanks for established households with these sorts of random supplies on hand.
I found silver polishing to be rather meditative and satisfying in the way that cleaning something really dirty so often is. Also a bit magical, wipe on the pink cream, wash it off and reveal the shine!
After a few cleaning sessions the trays looked much better. Some of the scratches and spots were quite resistant, but I think they went from this side of shabby to solidly respectable.
The Round Tray
The Scallop-edge Tray
The Rope-edge Tray
Now that these beauties have their shine back, all that remains is to find appropriate settings that can use a bit of glamour. Stay tuned for part 3 of this freestyle odyssey.