Tag Archives: stain

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.

How to Clean Copper Using Household Ingredients

Many of us still have copper fixtures, pipes, flatware, kettles and other items in our home. This is because copper was used for everything from faucets to cookware to light plates for over a century before steel became affordable enough for use in outfitting homes.

 

If you own anything that is copper you know that the main problem is that copper is constantly oxidizing and creating a green patina. Although that slightly degraded aqua touch is actual an asset in cases (for instance it is very common on old Victorian roofs and on the turrets of post-modern buildings from the eighties) it does not look that appealing on a kettle, flower vase or a fork.

 

Most of the items that can be used to remove the chalky green coating on your copper items are ordinary household ingredients:  white vinegar, salt and baking soda (or cornstarch.)

 

Copper cleans up very nicely if you immerse the item in a salt and vinegar bath. Simply mix one tablespoon of salt with three cups of water in a very big part. Take the copper item that you wish t clean and leave it in the pot.  Leave the item there until the water and vinegar and salt solution comes to a full rolling boil.  Leave the copper item like this until you can visually detect that all of the green color has left the surface of the copper.  Then take the pot off of the heat.

 

Before you remove the copper from the pot make sure it and the water has cooled completely down to room temperature.  Lift the object out of the pot and give it a quick wash with a high quality dish soap, like Dawn, to get rid of any vinegar smell that might be lingering on the item.  Be sure to wash the pot you boiled the item in thoroughly as well.

 

If the problem is small then you might want to try cutting a wedge of lemon that has been sprinkled on both sides with salt.  The salt acts like a scouring item. Scrub the green stain off of the copper item until it is gone and then wash the item with dish soap and water to get rid of any lemon debris.

 

You can also use ketchup to clean copper. Simply mix equal parts corn starch with ketchup to make a paste and then scrub the item clean. Be sure to wash and rinse the item with dish soap to eliminate any scent of ketchup.