Cleaning tip

Quite some few years ago, after both of my Wonder Woman’s parents had passed away, we fell heir to, among other things from the estate, their collection of silverplate flatware. Didn’t think a thing about it really, cos we already had several sets of flatware (hers, mine and ours) that we were using at the time. Besides, it was just silverplate, anyway, nothing all that fancy.

But.

Cleaning “stuff” out last year, I ran across the set and gave it a good look. Huh! Looked exactly like the stuff I grew up using as a kid. It was. I guess the Oneida Queen Bess pattern was either really popular in the late 40s, early 50s when our parents—in widely separate parts of the country—started their homes. In fact, I actually had one serving spoon from the set we pretty much wore out as kids—silverplate almost entirely worn off, base metal worn. Here’s what the teaspoons in a Queen Bess pattern look like:

But, after sitting for years, even closed up in a “silverware” chest, ours didn’t look that nice. So, hours and hours of polishing? Nah. Too lazy.

Aluminum foil in bottom of large pan. Boiling water. Salt and baking soda. Whatever silver (or silverplated) item you need to clean MUST be in contact with the aluminum foil. Combine the salt, baking soda and boiling water and pour over the silver. Give it a little time and the tarnish will be gone.

Polish dry with a soft cloth and you’re good to go. (And yes, this works just as well with “real” silver items.)

I ended up putting away our other flatware, and we use the Queen Bess on a daily basis now. Memories for both of us, nice service for daily use, and easy to keep sparkling clean.