How to Care for Pewter Glasses

Pewter is an alloy, which can make it a little different to care for than other metals. For the most part it does not rust. Most pewter is 9&% tin or higher. Contrary to what you might have heard Pewter does not contain lead nowadays and pewter mugs and glasses are okay to drink from. However you should be wary if you are in possession of a very old pie of pewter as it might contain lead.  If the pewter iron has a gray to black patina then it might have lead content.

 

The good new about pewter is that unlike silver it does not tarnish easily which means there is no need to clean it all the time.  Every few years is okay. The other thing to note here is that pewter looks great with a bit of a dusty gray patina. Even if you remove it the oxidization will naturally come back in a year or two.

 

There are three different types of pewter that exist: polished pewter, satin pewter and oxidized pewter.

 

Polished pewter is shiny and smooth and can be cleaned very easily with a soft cloth and a polish you make on your own.  The perfect paste for cleaning pewter is made out of salt, vinegar and flour and rubbed on the item to make it shine.

 

Satin pewter has a rougher, more grainy appearance and is usually cleaned with warm water and a mild soap. You can buff this type of pewter and make it loo shier by gently rubbing it with a very fine steel wood. Do not rub too hard or you could remove the chunks of plating.

 

Oxideized pewter usually has a darker finish and it may be hard to tell if it is made of lead. If it oxidizes quickly within a few months it might be a lead and tin alloy. As the dusty or gray look is part of the look of this type of pewter you only need to rinse it with warm water and soap.

 

To avoid damaging pewter then you need to avoid using it to contain citrus juice, which can pit or stain the item.

 

Keep in mind you cannot remove lead from pewter no matter how much you try to scrub it clean.  The FDA requires that the tin content be at least 92% in order to be qualified as “food safe” and you will find some companies go even beyond this point with up to 97% pewter.

Non-Toxic Water-based Finish

Hardwood floors look best when they are shin and but the hard fact of life is that hardwood floor finishes can be quite toxic. If you suffer from environmental sensitivities or cannot tolerate e of oil based or polyurethane based hardwood finish fumes then you can opt for water based one. e. In some countries oil based floor finishes are banned because of their off gassing, odors and health issues.

 

The purpose of any hardwood floor finish should be to enhance the beauty of the wood and seal it. All polyurethane, whether oil or water-based create a seal over the floor that protects it. Polyurethane does not penetrate into the wood. Instead it is builds up on the surface. After all polyurethane is not like water – it is a plastic that dries on top of the wood.

 

As convenient as polyurethane is the oil finishes tend to ‘feed” the wood of your floor.  OI-based hardwood floor finishes have a more familiar, old fashioned look to them than the newer water based hardwood floor finishes. It smoothest out the grain of the wood and develops into an attractive golden to brown color over the passage of time. However once a floor is varnished with an oil-based finish it can take weeks or even months for the odor to totally dissipate which is not good for you, your children or your pets.

 

 

An oil-based finish can take at least three days to dry and you may have to wait as long as a week before you can replace your furniture in the treated room. With a water based polyurethane finish, the varnish is dry within one or two days after applying the final coat and the fumes dissipate in just day or two.  Another benefit of using water based polyurethane floor finishes is that it dries after only one hour. You can walk on it and put your furniture back in the room right away.

 

Water based hardwood floor finishes do not age the floor in the same attractive way that oil based finishes do. Your floor will remain its original color for years to come. Water based finish causes the grain to lift a bit from the wood. This gives the floor a bit of a rough feeling. If this does happen after you apply water based polyurethane finish the situation is not hopeless. There are some types of sealants that contain alcohol that you can buy and apply over the water based finish to restore the floor’s smoothness.