Replating flatware

Letter 1432

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Hi, there. My wife has a large number of old silver-plated forks, knives, and spoons. Most of them have a lot of wear and tear, and need to be replated. Local shops here quote about $15 per piece to replate them, which is way beyond my budget.

Is there a practical way to replate them with silver at home? Here's some background information to give you that warm, fuzzy feeling that I won't kill myself with chemicals: Ph.D. in Oceanography, ran a transmission electron microscope lab and darkroom with metal vaporization systems, osmium baths for specimens, etc. I'm a really careful guy, and I do have access to DC power supplies (now working in Silicon Valley), but I don't know what the right chemical bath might be for a lasting, bright finish. Any suggestions or pointers would be helpful. Thanks. --

George Lewbel

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Sorry, Dr. Lewbel, in my opinion there is not a practical way to do real silver electroplating at home--

First, you need cyanide-based plating solutions. These have no place in a home, no matter how careful and experienced a person you are, and nobody will sell them for shipment to a residential address. Why limit your search to local shops though?

Note: Keep reading, as there is newer info below!

Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

Dear Mr. Lewbel I just returned from my sister's house and watched her use a product that she ordered from a catalog. She was trying it out on several silver items which were really a mess. Some of them had failed to polish, were black and dull looking.

She found that the item she was using not only made the silver look wonderful, it appeared to replate the areas that were blackened, or where the silver was rubbed off with brass showing through. I have not called them yet, but I thought that you might be interested in doing so.

Sandra Sachs
- Baltimore, MD

Thanks, Sandra! Although products like those aren't electroplating, but they do deposit a very thin coating of silver on the item, and some people are well satisfied with it.

This may not offer the "lasting bright finish" that Dr. Lewbel seeks, but it may be "good enough" considering the alternatives.

We've now added an FAQ, "Silver Plating at Home" which compares this approach with real electroplating, and sources those resilvering products -- which also include Jax Silver Plating Solution, Miracle Silver, Nu Silver, Quickshine, Silveron, Silver Plating Formula, Silver Secret, and The Silver Solution.

Thanks again.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

July 2, 2007

Back in the 1980's I demonstrated a product called Silver Solution and Silver Maintenance Solution at The Bon dept. store. I even brought my own silver to demonstrate on, as well as asking people for their pennies. The product was made by Sheffield, a well known name in the world of Silver. Some years later when my bottles were empty I couldn't find it at all. Finally in 2005 I found a contact. It was the old product and I was delighted. It is not cheap, but the more you buy the less the cost. It would be nice to find someone in the states who carries it, and see if the price would be less. If anyone finds a local server, please let me know.

Chellis S. Swenson
- Tacoma, WA - USA

April 18, 2008

Thanks, Chellis. This letter is but one of dozens of threads on that subject and it was proving just impossible to maintain working links for the ever-shifting URLs scattered across our pages. So we are now maintaining links for that product and a bunch of competitive products on our "Silver Plating at home" page.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

Dear Reader: please choose what you want to do.

I want to answer or post a follow-up question
: I want to post a question on a different subject.; This letter is within a monitored forum, very much "alive" here in 2008. If you spot any broken links or obsolete info, please advise!