Fruit Bowl 2

You’ll remember in my last post I was trying to clean this silverplated fruit bowl, and this was the result:

No.

Well, the Tarn-X came and I got it out today to see what it would do with the bowl. I got some cotton balls and a rag and started rubbing the bowl with a Tarn-X soaked cotton ball like the bottle instructed, and not much was happening. Then I tried going after some of the carving, and a little bit of silver was peeking through. Finally, I got this:

You can see the difference in the grapes carvings, the one on the right has been rubbed with Tarn-X and the one on the left hasn’t. But the smooth silverplate is so pitted that it wouldn’t even come right with the Tarn-X. That’s when I decided that I was going to a lot of trouble for little reward. I’m going to list it on Etsy in its current condition. It was a beautiful bowl at one time, and I’m hoping someone else will still think it beautiful despite its flaws. I guess that’s what we all want for ourselves too, isn’t it?

Beauty

Fruit Bowl

I got this antique silverplate fruit bowl at an estate sale last weekend. It was made by the Adelphi Silverplate Company in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Here is what it looked like after washing with soap and water:

Tarnish a go-go.

Not very nice.

I ordered some Weiman Silver Polish and when it came I went to work on the bowl. I polished…

Helper Cat is helping.

And polished…

And polished some more…

And this is how it turned out. Aargh. See all those pits and places where the silverplate has gone? I even tried getting into the carvings with an old toothbrush, and that didn’t work at all.

On the right is the polished side, left unpolished.

I’m pretty sure someone was using this bowl to throw rocks at. Or make mudpies (with rocks) in. Or maybe they had it strapped to the grill of their car? Seriously, it’s a fruit bowl. What kind of fruit does this sort of damage?

Not happy with results.

But I got an idea…it would be perfect in someone’s gothic-themed home or haunted house, wouldn’t it? I may market it as a goth or Halloween decoration!

I ordered some Tarn-X (Remember the commercials when we were kids? Takes all the tarnish off!) and it should arrive on Friday. Then we’ll see if there’s any improvement. Will post Tarn-X results Friday or Saturday!