How to Protect Your Silver From Scuff
If you are a silver lover like me there are a few basic tips you should know in order to protect your valuable pieces such as silver rings or bracelets from wear and tear. Silver is fragile metal, which can quickly develop tarnish, stains or scratches and therefore silver needs a bit more TLC than some other metals. Here’s how to protect your silver from scuff:
- When cleaning your silver, always use the softest cleaning utensils such as soft-bristled toothbrush or soft cotton cloth.
- Silver and chemicals interact. If you want to keep your silver shiny, remove your silver jewelry before any task that involves chemicals. This includes among other things washing dishes or clothes, swimming, gardening, coloring your hair and car maintenance.
- Always remember that jewelry goes on last and comes off first. For example, hairspray or perfume may react with your silver jewelry, so it is always good to put on jewelry after you have applied makeup, perfume and hairspray. By contrast, remember to remove your jewelry before removing your makeup.
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Sanna 24. February 2009 | How to? | Comment
How to Clean Your Silver With Household Basics
Silver is a beautiful but unfortunately quite fragile metal, which can quickly develop tarnish, stains or scratches if not stored properly. Luckily you don’t need to use any harsh, toxic chemicals to get your silver all nice and shiny. There are ways to clean your silver with household basics. A few warnings though. For any valuable or truly special piece, it is always safest to have them professionally cleaned. If you decide to go for household ingredients instead of products with synthetic chemicals, remember to avoid abrasive cleaners, which might scratch your silver. And last, be sure the dark smear is actually tarnish and not the base metal beginning to show through.
- Toothpaste
For small silver items such as rings or earrings, the best silver polish is white tooth paste. Rub gently into the tarnish and then rinse the paste with warm water. Repeat the steps if necessary. Finally, polish dry with a soft cloth.
- Baking soda
For bigger pieces, use baking soda and a clean, damp sponge. Mix some baking soda and water to make a paste. Rub the paste very gently into the silver with the sponge. Rinse the paste carefully with warm water and polish dry with a soft, clean cloth. For badly tarnished silver, leave the baking soda paste on the silver for an hour or so, before cleaning off with the help of the sponge and warm water.
- Aluminum foil
Wrap aluminum foil over your tarnished silver. Make sure that the silver touches the aluminum. Heat some water in a kettle. Add a small amount of salt and some baking soda to the hot water but make sure that the solution won’t bubble over. Take the kettle of the stove and place the aluminum pack into the solution. Remove after a few minutes. Repeat the steps if necessary.
Sanna 21. February 2009 | How to? | Comment
So Hot Right Now
Home cooked meals are back on the table. Why to eat out when eating in can be so stylish!? Forget fancy restaurants, put on your apron and get ready for some serious eye-candy.
Piano salad servers by Renzo Piano (1998)
Coffee pot by Antti Numersniemi (1957)
Cast iron pot by Timo Sarpaneva (1960).
Get Sarpaneva cast iron pot for a reduced price from Amazon. Get other items from Finnish Design Company and Iittala Homeshopping.
Sanna 19. February 2009 | Home | Comment [1]
Furniture Hunting
Although moving to a new flat can be a pain in the bum indeed, I kinda like the feeling of starting with a clean slate. The fact that I currently have nearly 15 square meters less living space than before forces me to think carefully how to furnish my new flat in the most functional and aesthetic way.
Investing in high quality 1950’s Scandinavian design has been my long-term dream. Those 50’s touches such as splayed legs and simplicity of design really make me tick, and I’m willing to go to great pains when searching perfect piece of furniture that oozes fifties charm and grace.
I recycled the bookshelf I had in my previous flat so at this present moment I have all my books, cds, dvds and other nick-nacks laying on a floor or windowsills since I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. However, I want to be prepared in case a mouth-watering piece of furniture shows up. I have taken the most important measurements from my flat and I carry this information with me when I go furniture hunting. I also carry a measure tape with me since it might be a struggle to find it from flea markets. Just now I’m checking out vintage sideboards that are on the market. Scoring a long and low sideboard made of light wood such as teak or rosewood would be a dream come true.
I have learned that hunting vintage furniture requires a lot of patience and a little bit of luck. Finding that perfect piece of furniture can take some time but the zing it brings to your home is definitely worth waiting for.
Share your tips for finding vintage furniture in the comments!
Image via Galt Museum.
Sanna 7. October 2008 | Home Style | Comment [4]
Stuff Happens
I have finally managed to schlep my things to Helsinki, yay to that. However, my wee flat from the 1930’s doesn’t have that much storage space and there’s a real challenge in front of me to reduce my stuff to the min. I recycled nearly half of my clothes and accessories before the change of residence but I still have way too much clothes for my tiny closet (yes, singular!). My exhaustive collection of glassware is setting another difficult situation. Instead of kitchen the flat has a teensy-weensy kitchenette with close to no storage space so I have no idea where to store all my precious glass.
Oh dear. But I need to do something for this situation and fast, since I have my living room full of boxes and obscure piles of things I don’t have enough space. Stuff happens, no can do. Any tips for respectable self-service flea markets in Helsinki? And another question: How many dresses, coats, pairs of shoes or bags does a woman really need?
When you move into a new flat or house,you want to get everything sorted as soon as possible, don’t you? You want to be able to sit in the living room, watch TV, play a Texas Holdem tournament or have drinks with friends or whatever it is you enjoy. You don’t want to be surrounded by boxes like I am! You know what they say tidy room, tidy mind.
For now I’ll just go sip my wine and play a couple of rounds of Angry Birds, my new favorite game.
