How best to cover silver?
by
Arlene
+10
I inherited a small, antique sterling silver bowl that is very pitted. I think it was used to hold a potted plant. I can't remove the extensive pitting and don't want to throw out silver, so would appreciate any ideas.
Hi Arlene, this article might help - https://www.hunker.com/12560924/how-to-repair-pitted-silver. I hope you can save your silver bowl
get a buffing wheel for your dremel along with some jewelers rouge. It will buff up nicely and you can use that method on your silver jewelry. I have cleaned up many pieces using this.You can order everything you need on Amazon.
Try painting it with rust paint ?
If buffing isn't enough, there are silver plating kits available at jewelers supply houses. My go-to is Rio Grande Jewelry Supply. I haven't checked the cost, but you could always replate your friends silver to cover it.
You could also check with your local brass instrument repair shop to see if they do silver plating. Some do both gold and silver. Not the cheapest method, but less than a jewelry repair shop would cost. They are used to dealing with large pieces. (Some send them out for plating, though, so see if they do it in-house.)
If it truly is sterling, some of the methods you've tried would have worked.. If it is silver plate, you can smooth out any bumps with a fine sand paper and then spray paint it. You won't be detracting from the value and some of the above methods will cost more than it is monetarily worth. You can keep the sentimental value and still use it if you clean it up in this manner.
Did you think of silver puppy paint that has a pebbly finished look that Home Depot lowes or any hardware stores sell?
Bubbly not puppy....typing in the beautiful winter sunshine.
Birks used to sell a cleaning silver and repairing silver kits. You would rub the paste on your damaged silver bowl and it would cover the damaged areas with a thin coat of silver. The more often you polish with the silver paste, the better it looks. I used it on some pieces where the silver had worn off. It cost around $25.00.
Thanks for all your answers. The bowl is stamped "sterling" on the bottom. I'll look into Burks or else spray paint it.
If it truly is sterling, it should be able to be saved. Here is one product that may help:
https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Plating-Silverware-Medallion-Brand/dp/B002SHXJTM/ref=asc_df_B002SHXJTM/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309760520871&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8264542501324739962&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012027&hvtargid=pla-571007501748&psc=1
Google says it should cost about $25-40 to have your piece replated by a pro.