Did bleach ruin silver?

[email hidden] wrote on 5/1/2006:

Quoted message said:

I had a slightly backed up sink. So I put a glug of bleach in the
drain and water, and let it sit. Usually works, then plunge later.

Quoted message said:

But oops. There was a silverplate teaspoon sitting in the murky water.
It came out with the bowl of the spoon looking like it has a whitish
coating, and back greenish.

<snip>

Sometimes here (often - actually) you get an answer to a question you
didn't ask.
If a bit of decent silver polish won't fix the spoon and it's too cheap
to warrant recoating,
then I'd think it's a goner.

What puzzles me is what does bleach do to unclog a sink?

Quoted message said:

I had a slightly backed up sink. So I put a glug of bleach in the
drain and water, and let it sit. Usually works, then plunge later.

I'm trying to make sense of why a glug of bleach would have any effect
on a backed up sink?
Have you tried plunging without?

Quoted message said:

I had a slightly backed up sink. So I put a glug of bleach in the
drain and water, and let it sit. Usually works, then plunge later.

But oops. There was a silverplate teaspoon sitting in the murky water.
It came out with the bowl of the spoon looking like it has a whitish
coating, and back greenish. Now, this is one of an odd-lot of flea
market silver, so no big loss. Just wondering if there is any hope of
rescuing it. No, replating is not an option for maybe a two -dollar
spoon 🙂 But is is, or was, silver.

Most definitely...

I doubt that the standard de-tarnishing tricks will work.
If you have a lapidary/jewelry making supply store near you,
you may be able to rescue it with some sterling pickling solution and a
bit of elbow grease.

Om

"[email hidden]" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I had a slightly backed up sink. So I put a glug of bleach in the
drain and water, and let it sit. Usually works, then plunge later.

But oops. There was a silverplate teaspoon sitting in the murky water.
It came out with the bowl of the spoon looking like it has a whitish
coating, and back greenish. Now, this is one of an odd-lot of flea
market silver, so no big loss. Just wondering if there is any hope of
rescuing it. No, replating is not an option for maybe a two -dollar
spoon 🙂 But is is, or was, silver.

I remember seeing some sort of trick on TV that involved putting silver
items in water, together with aluminium foil and either lemon juice or salt
(you'd have to Google that0. The silver needs to touch the foil. Let it sit
until the cilver looks good again.

Maybe this would work. It's so easy, it's worth a try.

it shoudl work for all silver cleaning jobs - no more polishing, and no
fussing over details. The chemical reactions solve it all. Healthier thatn
store bought polish, too, I woudl imagine.

On Tue, 2 May 2006 19:46:39 +0200, "Jke" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"[email hidden]" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I had a slightly backed up sink. So I put a glug of bleach in the
drain and water, and let it sit. Usually works, then plunge later.

snipped....

🙂 But is is, or was, silver.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I remember seeing some sort of trick on TV that involved putting

silver

Quoted message said:

items in water, together with aluminium foil and either lemon juice

or salt

Quoted message said:

(you'd have to Google that0. The silver needs to touch the foil. Let

it sit

Quoted message said:

until the cilver looks good again.

Maybe this would work. It's so easy, it's worth a try.

it shoudl work for all silver cleaning jobs - no more polishing, and

no

Quoted message said:

fussing over details. The chemical reactions solve it all. Healthier

thatn

Quoted message said:

store bought polish, too, I woudl imagine.

I tried this experiment with tin foil, hot water, a pan and salt, I
think. It did not work. I have sterling silver utensils and was
looking for an easy way to clean them. Back to Wright's silver
polish🙂 which does make them look nice even after I've run them
through the dishwasher daily.

and BTW, bleach is nasty to silver as are eggs, mayonnaise, pickle
juice etc....

Good luck

aloha,
Thunder

Quoted message said:

smithfarms.com
Farmers of pure Kona Coffee

Jke said:

"[email hidden]" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I had a slightly backed up sink. So I put a glug of bleach in the
drain and water, and let it sit. Usually works, then plunge later.

But oops. There was a silverplate teaspoon sitting in the murky water.
It came out with the bowl of the spoon looking like it has a whitish
coating, and back greenish. Now, this is one of an odd-lot of flea
market silver, so no big loss. Just wondering if there is any hope of
rescuing it. No, replating is not an option for maybe a two -dollar
spoon 🙂 But is is, or was, silver.

I remember seeing some sort of trick on TV that involved putting silver
items in water, together with aluminium foil and either lemon juice or salt
(you'd have to Google that0. The silver needs to touch the foil. Let it sit
until the cilver looks good again.

Maybe this would work. It's so easy, it's worth a try.

it shoudl work for all silver cleaning jobs - no more polishing, and no
fussing over details. The chemical reactions solve it all. Healthier thatn
store bought polish, too, I woudl imagine.

You would imagine wrongly. That is absolutely the very worst treatment
you can give sterling or silverplate, and will ruin it in the long run.
Ask a silver expert if you don't believe me. It is easy; but it will
ruin your sterling. Silverplate? I wouldn't use it in any event for
anything. Stainless is much better and more useful for everyday, and
there isn't any plating to wear off, and it never gets that "metallic"
taste. Plus, there is nothing inherently dangerous about silver polish
- you always wash everything in hot sudsy water after polishing.

N.

KevinS said:

[email hidden] wrote on 5/1/2006:

Quoted message said:

I had a slightly backed up sink. So I put a glug of bleach in the
drain and water, and let it sit. Usually works, then plunge later.

Quoted message said:

But oops. There was a silverplate teaspoon sitting in the murky water.
It came out with the bowl of the spoon looking like it has a whitish
coating, and back greenish.

<snip>

Sometimes here (often - actually) you get an answer to a question you
didn't ask.
If a bit of decent silver polish won't fix the spoon and it's too cheap
to warrant recoating,
then I'd think it's a goner.

What puzzles me is what does bleach do to unclog a sink?

If the clog is hair or any other organic material other than grease,
the bleach breaks it down, but be very careful because straight bleach
won't only mess up silver, but stainless and chrome as well.

--Bryan

In article <[email hidden]>,

smithfarms pure kona said:

On Tue, 2 May 2006 19:46:39 +0200, "Jke" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"[email hidden]" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I had a slightly backed up sink. So I put a glug of bleach in the
drain and water, and let it sit. Usually works, then plunge later.

snipped....

🙂 But is is, or was, silver.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I remember seeing some sort of trick on TV that involved putting

silver

Quoted message said:

items in water, together with aluminium foil and either lemon juice

or salt

Quoted message said:

(you'd have to Google that0. The silver needs to touch the foil. Let

it sit

Quoted message said:

until the cilver looks good again.

Maybe this would work. It's so easy, it's worth a try.

it shoudl work for all silver cleaning jobs - no more polishing, and

no

Quoted message said:

fussing over details. The chemical reactions solve it all. Healthier

thatn

Quoted message said:

store bought polish, too, I woudl imagine.

I tried this experiment with tin foil, hot water, a pan and salt, I
think. It did not work. I have sterling silver utensils and was
looking for an easy way to clean them. Back to Wright's silver
polish🙂 which does make them look nice even after I've run them
through the dishwasher daily.

It's aluminum foil and baking soda, and it does work -- sort of. It
"reverse electroplates" the sulfur that makes silver black onto the
aluminum, so don't use a good aluminum pan; use pyrex or something
similar, and a piece of foil you can throw away.

The "sort of" is because while it does remove the tarnish, it leaves the
surface rather dull. Real silver polish (not the terribly smelly "dip
it" stuff) is a very mild abrasive. Over time and use, that is what
gives silver that nice surface appearance.

Isaac