Cleaning & polishing gold plated flatware

A. Hi Kitty,
The gold plating on the great majority of gold plated flatware is quite thin. So, rather than heavy use of metal polish, I'd suggest the aluminum foil and washing soda routine ...

Line the bottom of a non-metallic sink or dishpan with aluminum foil. Add a solution of hot washing soda ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] or Spic and Span ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] , and place your gold plated silverware on the aluminum foil for just a couple of minutes.

This doesn't remove plating, but does convert metal oxides & sulfides back to metal (it's most often used on silver, because silver readily tarnishes).

Then wipe with a silverware cloth ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] . And only if this doesn't work well enough, then polish with any metal polish like Maas ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] , Wenol ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] , Flitz ⇦[this on eBay or Amazon affil links] , or whichever one you have on hand. But again the plating is extremely thin and will tolerate very little polishing.

Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Spic and Span


on Amazon or eBay
(affil link)

A. Hi Caroline,

If the instructions on the Spic and Span box suggest how to mix it, follow them; if not, then maybe 1/2 cup per gallon is probably fine. The process in question can use almost any conductive solution including washing soda or water softener salts -- I just think you might as well use a solution like Spic n Span that cleans at the same time.

Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. I have been looking for gold plated flatware. As I survey the various brands, one precaution stands out: DO NOT wash in a dishwasher with a "lemon" dish soap. Perhaps that is what the problem is. I believe the lemon ingredient must mar the flatware.

A. I believe the gold flatware should not be washed in the dishwasher at all. It will definitely pit if it comes in contact with stainless while washing in the dishwasher. I have cared for my flatware under this assumption and it has held up well.

A. Hi Diane. With gold costing more than $1000 an ounce, your skepticism about gold plating is understandable. However, the explanation is that gold plating can be almost unimaginably thin, a few millionths of an inch -- in which case one trip through the dishwasher can spoil it. Sorry :-(

Regards,

? Can you give me a little more guidance as to exactly how you "washed" the flatware? And, any idea what the base metal is? The more clues you can give, the closer a guess might be:)

I've seen sterling items which were very lightly gold plated take on a very lovely tarnish at times - I wonder if that's what you were looking at?

A. Hi G. The gold plating on affordable stainless steel flatware is very very thin and quite soft and often does does not survive even a single trip through the dishwasher. Sorry.

It can certainly be replated by a plating shop, but plating is labor intensive and gold is very expensive, so you may find that the cost of replating is more than what you paid for the flatware. Sorry.

It is possible to gold plate sterling silver, of course, but I think the overwhelming majority of such flatware is stainless steel rather than sterling silver.

Regards,

Silver & Gold Polishing Cloth

on Amazon or eBay
(affil link)

A. Hi Victoria. When you put "gold" in quotes because you don't know what it actually is, unfortunately neither does anyone else -- it could be Dirilyte or similar bronzeware (which many people love, but will never become gold colored), it could be a titanium nitride PVD finish as often used on gold colored plumbing fixtures (inexpensive, usually durable enough for a dishwasher), or it could be a thin and fragile plating of real gold. The base could be sterling silver, nickel-silver, stainless steel base or even brass. Apologies, but it's just impossible to guess.

I'd probably try the aluminum foil and washing soda approach used to remove tarnish from silver -- it won't hurt gold plating -- and follow that with light wiping with a polishing cloth. If it does nothing, the finish is probably not real gold plating or is too worn to restore without replating.

Regards,

Thanks, Laura. Gold trim on your dishes won't last forever in a dishwasher either, but at least it's covered with ceramic glazing so it will last far longer than the thin bare gold plating on the flatware.

Regards,

Silver Anti-tarnish Strips

on Amazon or eBay
(affil link)

A. Hi Donna, I would expect the same storage bags and storage strips that are used for silver would work for gold plated flatware by keeping corrosives out of the atmosphere. For removing the tarnish, see if the aluminum foil plus washing soda trick discussed in topic 4785 helps you. The advantage of this over polishing cloths is that it doesn't remove any of the gold. So maybe do the aluminum foil first, then lightly rub with a gold polishing cloth?

Regards,

A. As a daughter of an owner of a large set of gold plated flatware: it is to be washed by hand with mild dish soap. We use Ivory or Dawn to wash.

A. In response to cleaning gold plated flatware, I have had the same problem finding an answer. Everybody I know who owns a set puts it in the dishwasher and it is fine or hand washes it. The most important thing is to dry it due to spotting. They also said it was easier to maintain than silverware. Don't quote me this is just from other friend's experience.

A. I hope this helps someone. Gold plated flatware should NEVER be put in a dishwasher. If it's true gold plating over silver plate or sterling the best way to clean it is to wash it by hand using warm water and mild soap and then, if it isn't shiny enough, take a small amount of baking soda [in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil link] on a damp and very soft cloth or sponge and gently rub the flatware. This will brighten the gold without undo wear. The key is gentle. Even with baking soda if you rub too hard you can scratch the gold surface.

A. Hi Paula. Sad to say, gold plating on most flatware is not only soft, it's very very thin -- maybe 30 millionths of an inch at best. Think about that number: it means light gauge aluminum foil is about 20 times thicker. Twice through the dishwasher plus a scrubby pad and metal polish, there is probably no gold left in the whitish spots, so you're seeing the underlying stainless. Sorry to have to tell you.

Regards,

A. Don't!
Tarn-X can be really aggressive stuff for tough jobs, but inappropriate for gold plating.
Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi Karen. The gold will probably wear off in very short order. Don't.

Regards,

A. Hi Beth. If you purchased the flatware new, surely the manufacturer can tell you what is going on. If you bought it used, and the seller can't/won't/isn't available to tell you anything, then it's a big world, and hard to guess why the flatware has a sticky residue or what it might be, or even whether the coating is an essential part of the finish. Is it possible that it's actually Dirilyte or similar bronzeware? Dirilyte came with a BP ("bonded protectant") lacquer coating which most people eventually try to remove.

If it is in fact a deteriorating lacquer coating, or residue from a previous owner's poor attempt at epoxy or polyurethane coating, I'd probably start by trying to clean it with rubbing alcohol, then I'd try acetone ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] Flammable! . If they didn't work, I'd probably try Aircraft Stripper; none of these are acids or alkalies, nor abrasives, so none should hurt gold plating or any other metals.

Be aware that acetone is highly flammable, and that aircraft stripper is truly noxious stuff requiring goggles ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] , chemical gloves ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] , and outstanding ventilation (outdoors).

Regards,

  I have had Goldware for years. I ALWAYS hand wash it in Dawn and immediately dry with a soft cloth then set out to air for maybe an hour. I had a beautiful silverware chest but just sold it. I always stored my Goldware in the closed chest. My Gold coffee and tea set is spotting and dull so I will attempt to clean with a mild solution of baking soda. I would never use acetone to clean a sticky spot. Try Goo Gone ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] which dissolves most any sticky residue then wash immediately with mild soap and water. Mine is 25 yrs old and looks like new. Never put in the dishwasher. I am also religious about keeping every other piece at least in the original plastic wrap to keep it from scratching. If they rest on each other they are more likely to scratch if not kept protected. Take a little extra care and it will be beautiful for years.

A. I agree with Candi, NEVER use chemicals on your silver or gold utensils. If it's something sticky, I'd try rubbing a little butter on it with your finger. That should loosen it up and you can wipe it off with a paper towel. Do that a couple of times until you get it off of there and then wash it with warm soapy Dawn, rinse and dry.

A. Thanks Candi! Thanks Lisa! ... although I personally believe that rubbing alcohol, acetone, and aircraft stripper will have no effect on gold or other metals, but only on organic stuff like lacquer coatings and adhesives.

Regards,

A. Hi Jan. Silver polish or a silver cleaning cloth should work. I would expect the aluminum foil plus washing soda trick discussed in topic 4785 to work as well, and without causing wear like polishing does.

But you should probably store it in a storage box in silver storage bags or with anti-tarnish strips. They probably work similarly, but the bags would presumably lessen scratches.

Regards,

A. Hi Lauren. You have to demand an answer from the supplier; they have dozens of different flatware lines and nobody but them knows what they sold you in order to give you care instructions.

As already mentioned on this page, if they were actually gold plated, you certainly should not put them in a dishwasher!

However, if they were advertised by the manufacturer as 'dishwasher safe', I suspect that there is actually no gold on your flatware, that what you actually have is stainless steel flatware with a "gold tone" PVD finish (titanium nitride). I think it's entirely possible that such a finish can resist dishwasher cleaning. If you go to a hardware store or big box home improvement store you will see gold colored drill bits -- they are not gold, they are titanium nitride, and a finish that can hold up on a drill bit, will hold up on flatware, at least for quite a while :-)

Regards,

A. Hi Victoria
I'd fill a dishpan with hot water and mild dish detergent and let it sit for half an hour before cleaning it with a soft sponge. Then I'd rinse in very hot water and pat dry rather than rubbing dry.

But as F. Scott Fitzgerald noted, "The rich are different from you and me" ... ... on the one hand there is the gold plated flatware our readers have been talking about, and on the other hand there is the gold plated flatware offered by places like Gracious Style which is sold as 'dishwasher safe' because the gold plating is so thick that it will take a lot to wear it all away. The soup ladle was $13,345. the serving spoon & fork were $10,670 each. This is vermeil or better, and the plating is probably at least 100X thicker than most people here are talking about; even then, with gold costing over a thousand dollars an ounce, I wouldn't put it in a dishwasher and lose gold with each load :-)

Regards,

A. Hi Dee,
Sorry, but I don't think you'll hear good news on this. Gold is extremely chemical resistant; not much can discolor it or color it. If it's orange, the gold plating may be wearing off.

You can try Goran Budija's 'ammonium citrate' suggestion for turning orange-ish or pink-ish brass back to yellow-ish, as described on thread 351/45 but no promises.

Replacements seem to be readily available on eBay and other places however.

Gold Flatware (Towles Newbury Thread) on eBay (affil link)]

Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey