Best way to polish menorah

Bnei Berak 10

Mon, Dec 04 2023, 2:49 pm

meeze wrote:

Whats the best way u use to polish silver menorah?
I've tried so many already and they dont last that long before it tarnished again

Pls share your best tips

Thank you

Personally Hagerty spray.
Tarnish depends on the air and climate. I think tarnishing is worse in heat. Our Chanukkia rests in a box well wrapped in thin wrapping paper the whole year.

amother

Blue

Mon, Dec 04 2023, 10:57 pm

Tarnish prevention is all about protecting the silver from air. Doesn't matter how what kind of silver polish you use, silver will tarnish if exposed to air. Heat and humidity hasten the process. Wrapping tightly in aluminum foil, pressing the foil around the contours to seal out as much air as possible, and storing in a relatively cool place (the cabinet above your stove or radiator being particularly bad places) will keep the silver bright while in storage, but once you take it out of its wraps, tarnish will begin.

Polishing cloths or mitts help keep silver bright IF used early and often. They can't remove heavy tarnish but will buff away light tarnish. Use them before you think you need to. As an experiment, I once used the gloves on all my silver (not that I have a warehouse full; it was only a few pieces) every Motzash for a year. Came Pesach I didn't have to use chemical polish on any of it. TBH, if I had taken a piece of plain old cotton flannel that wasn't treated with anything and buffed my silver weekly, whether it had been used or not, the results would probably have been the same. But I'm not about to try plain cotton for another year to test my hypothesis. Weekly buffing got old fast. I'd rather use chemical or cream polish once every few months.

There are paper strips that contain a compound that absorbs sulfur in the air. Sulfur in the air hastens tarnishing even more than heat and humidity. The strips are meant to be used in a small enclosed area like a box or a cabinet that stays closed most of the time. I tried them once, but really couldn't tell you if they made a difference.