THE CHARLESTON SILVER LADY

Iam passing along this story in hopes you can avoid a similar situation with your own silver pieces. I have been working for the last month with a family in Mt. Pleasant with a large silver collection to be appraised. As we have gone through the many boxes of stored silver it has been a terrible blow to the family to find many of the pieces ruined and beyond economical repair.

The oldest of the pieces were stored just after Hurricane Hugo. They were put away for safekeeping when workmen were in the house for months. The owners then became ill and for the nearly 30 years the silver stayed in the attic, wrapped in newspaper and in plastic wrap.

The acidic ink from the newspaper took advantage of the environment, attaching itself to the surface of every silver object it came in contact with. This resulted in deep pitting. Many priceless family heirlooms from a Charleston family are now lost. Some of the pits reach through the surface and form actual holes in the silver.

The plastic wrap was equally damaging. It melted and attached itself to all silver surfaces where the acid (think about what plastic is) from the plastic created lines of pitting at every overlapping juncture.

Repairing these pieces would be difficult if not impossible.

Avoiding this nightmare is easy. Put your silver away in Pacific Cloth made just for this purpose or wrap it in acid-free white muslin (old fashioned baby diapers are ideal). Try to place your silver away from forced air and heat vents. Placing it in your clothes closet or in any area where there is an ambient temperature is perfect.

Please do not ever:

Wrap silver implements with rubber bands

Wrap silver in plastic wrap, zip-up plastic bags, or trash bags (plastic is acidic)

Do not put sterling in the dishwasher!

Silver is meant to be used. The best way to keep it safe is to use it and wash it as you would other table items.

You will enjoy your silver pieces for many years and keep them safe with minimum care using the methods described above.