Cleaning copper sinks inlayed with silver

cecile_rigault 2012-01-10 02:16:54 UTC #1

Off topic - sorry !

This is off topic, but I really don’t know where else to find an
answer.

Five years ago, I purchased in Santa Clara del Cobre - Mexico some
of their famous and lovely copper sinks inlayed with silver.

Well, they must’ve put some kind of lacquer over the silver floral
pattern , and it has yellowed…same with various vases, boxes
etc.

How can I get the silver to shine again ? I’ve tried soap and water,
even a bit of rouge with the foredom - no success.

Do you know of any solutions ? Chlore applied carefully ?

Thanks a bunch !

jholtak 2012-01-11 03:57:31 UTC #2

Cecile,

Well, they must've put some kind of lacquer over the silver floral
pattern, and it has yellowed......same with various vases, boxes
etc.

Sounds like they are silver plated over brass and the plating has
worn off.

Jerry in Kodiak

charlesian2000 2012-01-12 02:43:03 UTC #3

Sounds like they are silver plated over brass and the plating has
worn off.

Could be, fine silver will yellow over time also. CIA

cecile_rigault 2012-01-14 02:59:42 UTC #4

I actually did a test on a small item : it’s all copper, and there
was a thin layer of sterling coated with a varnish (which yellowed).
Conclusion : don’t buy the copper AND silver stuff. Too high
maintainance ! But the copper stuff is lovely.