Care and polishing of bunadsilver
Polishing bunad silver can be risky, especially if you uncritically follow general advice that is given without regard to the bunad you have and how the silver should actually look. If you have to use anything other than a polishing cloth to polish silver that has been sewn on, you should bounce it off. This is so that you do not damage the fabric. If you can manage with a cleaning cloth, simply remove the cleaning cloth lint with a clothes brush afterwards. You can buy a polishing board for buttons at the jeweler’s, or you can make your own with a piece of cardboard from which you cut a slit. Thread the cardboard behind the buttons to avoid cleaning cloth lint on the fabric.
Listen to Jørgen talk about how to polish your bunad silver
But there is one thing you can safely do anyway: Wash the bunad silver in zalo water with a little sal ammoniac in it. Or put it in Bio-Tex(!). In many cases, one of these tips will be enough in itself, and you will not need more. If you see that more is needed, you can follow one of these tips:
Oxidized (dark) silver
Only use polishing cloth on oxidized silver. This leaves the tops shiny and the bottom of the pattern still dark. Just as it should be. Do not use silver dip or silver cream: It can darken what is supposed to be dark too.
Old gold plated (Dark gold color)
Your antique gold-plated costume silver can be treated like oxidized silver, but the need to polish it will not be as great. These pieces should also be a little dark in the nooks and crannies, so don’t use silver dip or silver cream! These pieces of silver should not look “nouveau riche”.
Bright silver
The easy way is to dip it in silver cleaner, rinse under water and dry with a towel. Done in 30 seconds. The disadvantage of this method is that the long-term effect is poor and that the silver will turn a slightly dull gray-yellow after several repetitions if you only use this method. Here you can polish over with a silver cloth after cleaning off the silver dip – the result will be better and last longer. It is also possible to use silver cream to polish the silver. The problem here is that residues of the cream can remain in nooks and crannies, so it’s a good idea to use a nail brush or unused toothbrush when washing away the silver cream. This will remove the silver cream residue from the nooks and crannies in the pattern, and the silver will be bright and shiny again.
Gold-plated silver
You need to be careful with gilded silver, as silver dips can seriously damage the gilding. But it is possible to re-gild again, of course. Fortunately. If you’re using a silver dip, don’t dip a lot, not for long and not often.
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