Bad call?

[collectorheaven]

Am I shooting myself in the foot by not cleaning my silver before I list it? I know when it's brought up about coins, the answer is a resounding : do not clean!  I'm looking at other eBay listings,  my items just don't photograph well, but it's my understanding every time you polish a silver plated item a bit of it goes away... but I suppose on the other hand it would really show that either there is no loss at all on the plating, or I myself might discover imperfections that I was not aware of. Okay, that actually sounds like an item not as described complaint.. and a certain star dinger.. okay I talked me into it ....I'm going to clean all of my silver and repost the photos. Thanks for all of your help...LOL! YEP, I got there in the end... all by myself! 

[gauntlettgems]

@collectorheaven
Lol.

[mr_lincoln]

@collectorheaven  LOL, you may recall I suggested to clean before listing AND a good NON-abrasive cleaner is Wright's Silver Cream polish ... $ 4 - $ 5 for a pint size plastic container, easy to use, etc.  Most hardware stores carry it in our area, call your local one and ask.  It comes with a sponge applicator, get some vinyl cloves (or latex) and a soft cloth for buffing ... rub it on, let it dry, rinse it off and buff.

When photographing use a plain background, as much natural lighting as possible (avoiding the flash if you can). 

[mr_lincoln]

@collectorheaven 

... get busy ...

[collectorheaven]

HA! it looks like you won't be hearing from me for a spell... and you did indeed suggest that I get off my tuffet and do the work! I feel like a willful teenager that charged off on a road trip without checking the gas gauge...like I was told... and now I have to eat crow.. with my screechy Talon tongs! Off to buy some Wrights!

[mr_lincoln]

@collectorheaven

LOL!  Thanks for that!  Needed a good laugh!

[adamdaniel]

I use WENOL silver cleaning cream. A cream made in Germany. It is the absolute best polish for silver in my opinion. Does not leaven any streaks or residue and leaves the silver with a protective coating...and is absolutely beautiful after polished. Way, way, way better than Wrights silver polish cream.

[rixstuff]

My stuff sells just fine all tarnished - I find that buyers actually prefer it to look old.  I also heard from some buyers that they have reactions to cleaners so prefer to clean (or not) themselves.

Now if you need to clean it, use a Dremel hand drill with a polishing tip.  The round one that looks like a chimney sweep brush is great for cleaning chains and gets all in the holes.  Just lay the chain out and run the brush all up and down then flip like bacon and do the other side.  Astonishing what comes off with no chemicals.  The brush will turn black and over time the bristles will wear off. They are super cheap so just throw it away when it no longer works and get new ones.  You can use the same one about 40 times or so!

[rixstuff]

Oh and PLATED yes, you wear a bit of the silver off every time but STERLING is silver all the way through (925 means 92.5% solid silver) so you wont have that problem.  Silver plate the silver will wear off evenutally even if you NEVER clean it.

[rixstuff]

Oh and watch for "silver" made in China to turn pink when cleaning with chemicals.  Not enough silver in there to keep the shine and often only a thin coat of silver on the outside even if it SAYS 925 on the stamp. (Liar liar rings on fire).

[collectorheaven]

Wow what luck! I received a Dremel tool for Christmas! What a super time to try it out! Okie dokie so I'm looking for the attachment that looks like the brush I use on the chimney, got it! Nice stiff hard wire bristles! Ouch  these wire bristles sure are sharp .... Band-Aid.. okay here we go,  that should do the trick... Tink Tink Tink Tink Tink Tink Tink Tink... ping ping  ping  ping  ping  ping  ping  ping ....WOW you're absolutely right! I won't ever, or anyone else for that matter,  have to worry about cleaning this Silver Plate flatware ever again! Thank you so much for the tip! Oh wait... did you mean this nice soft bristle attachment?  🤣

[rixstuff]

No no! The brush is black and stiff plastic!  The metal one will scratch stuff up!

[rixstuff]

Second from the right in the picture.

[mr_lincoln]

@rixstuff 

I love my Dremel tool ... use it for all sorts of stuff but the one thing it is really good for is sharpening chainsaw blades .... bbbbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

[collectorheaven]

OH! I have one of those too! Brilliant! Now , off to tackle that big oak!