How- To...Clean Silver The Easy Way

Here's a great way to clean silver and silver plate items of just about any kind that you may not know about.

It's quick, easy, relatively clean, requires almost no elbow grease and is kind to your silver too!

This method is suitable for both sterling silver and all types of silver plate, but is particularly good for electro plated items.

Why? Because electro plated silver has only a very very thin layer of silver on it, and this is removed by commercial silver cleaners like Silvo. So if you clean silver plate with Silvo constantly, eventually you'll literally clean the silver right off, exposing the base metal.

I'll use a couple of my Lewbury silver plate pieces to demonstrate. Another advantage of this method is that it is safe to use with bakelite and doesn't leave tell tale residue in crevices like silver cleaners do.

And as you can see it needs a clean. I'd have preferred to have some filthy pieces to show a more drastic result, but this is what I have on hand today.

Firstly, line a bucket with some alfoil, shiny side up.

 

Next, fill it up with very hot tap water and throw in a small handful of bicarbonate of soda.

Place the items to be cleaned in the bucket. It is important to ensure that each item is touching the alfoil.

If your items are too big to be completely submerged, that's ok, you'll just need to turn them around after about 15 minutes so all areas are cleaned.

The result after 20 minutes. If you look at the salt and pepper shakers on top, you can see quite a difference.

There's no set amount of time for this, but I've found through experience that 20-30 minutes is good.

When you take your items out of the bucket, rinse them under clean water. I then place them on a clean cotton tea towel or rag. And this is what your foil will look like-gross!

You'll usually find a whitish film on your silver. This will simply wipe off with your rag. Wipe all items thoroughly now. If there are some dirty spots remaining, give those areas a firm rub. They'll often come off, but if they don't, just repeat this process again.

 

Naturally, silver that hasn't been cleaned for a long time or is black will take a bit more work than my Lewbury; the worst silver piece I've ever had was an Art Deco teapot that was green and black-  I had to do this 3 times, then I used Silvo in a just a couple of spots to make the finish absolutely perfect.

Et voila! My Lewbury babies back in situ, and looking an awful lot better.

How-To...Remove Icky Vintage Sticky Price Tags

See this pretty little lucite case?? A bad case of sticky price tag residue.

If you buy lots of vintage things like I do, I daresay you've had this problem too.

Here's the quick and easy way to solve it using just a couple of items you already have at home.

No matter what I did, this one wouldn't come off easily, and who wants to spend an hour cleaning something they've just bought, right?

Take some cotton buds and metho (white spirit)...

I always pour a bit into the upturned lid for ease of use.

Simply dip the cotton bud into the metho, and wipe the sticky stuff off.

Yes, it's that easy!!

As long as you're quick and gentle, this is safe to use on lots of different surfaces, including glass, leather, laminate, metal and all sorts of plastics.

Vintage Fashion Tutorial - The 1920s

This tutorial is taken from an article I've recently had published in 'Antiques and Art' magazine. To view the full article click here. This is one of the 'secret projects' I mentioned here, now that the magazine has been published I can finally share it with you!

 

In terms of both culture and fashion, the 1920s was one of the most exciting and influential decades of the twentieth century. This was the era of the flapper, Art Deco, Egyptian revival, makeup, and parties, parties, parties.

Life was precious, the future was uncertain, and people sought to make the most of every available moment. change was in the air; a new spirit was born.

Edwardian corsets, heavy boning, intricate fastenings and multiple petticoats made way for a new, simpler style of dressing where class differences were lessened and sartorially less obvious.

So what was this new, simpler style of dressing, and what does it look like?

This stunning silk velvet dress is in stock now

In a word, significantly more 'boyish' than ever before. Hair was cut to bob length, so it was easy to style and manage at home. Breasts were often strapped down, a reaction to the emphasis Edwardians placed on the female body silhouette. Hemlines were shortened, the waistline was virtually abolished and sleeveless garments appeared for the first time.

These changes were almost universal, and quite revolutionary. Never mind that they weren't always flattering; women loved the freedom of movement that the new styles allowed, and embraced them with unreserved enthusiasm.

Fabrics included the ever-popular silk velvet, cottons, silks and wools. Evening dresses were luxurious, often heavily beaded and sequinned lined silks with a silk velvet coat that had a matching beaded applique.

Hand embroidered and silk devore shawls were eye-catching icons of the era. Influenced by the fashion for exotic cultures, these luxury garments featured intricate embroidery, long fringing and vibrant colours.

Hats, too, altered dramatically during the '20s. Fancy Victorian headdresses with ornamental birds and large veils disappeared, replaced by the hugely popular cloche style. The cloche was almost helmet-like; it had a shallow crown and a tiny or no brim, minimal ornamentation, and was worn so far down on the head as to impede the wearers' vision.

 

While other styles of hat were certainly worn during this era (most notably the floppy-brimmed hat in either straw or chiffon), it is the cloche which symbolised fashion changes during the 20s, and remains a strong identifier of the era.

Much of the jewellery of the 1920s echoed the shape and form of the Art Deco design movement. This is true of both costume and fine jewellery- in fact, many costume pieces are just as valuable and collectable as those made from gold and sterling silver.


Trends included marcasite, celluloid, paste rhinestones, chrome settings, and of course, bakelite. the advent of coloured bakelite around 1927 was a boon for makers of costume jewellery. For the first time, almost all women had access to up-to-the-minute, fun, colourful and affordable jewellery.


I just wish there was more of it still around!

Vintage Fashion Tutorial - 1960s Suits

Inspired by some vintage magazines I snaffled this week, this post will be the first in a series of vintage fashion tutorials.

I'll be looking at various styles and eras from the 20s to the 70s inclusive, and, as with my collectables tutorials, will be gradually built up into a whole series that everyone can use as a reference. And hopefully I'll have a link to it somewhere too (when I work out just how to do that!)


First up, 1960s suits.

 

There's something so...neat about 60s suiting, isn't there? The crisp tailoring, pillbox hat, elegant gloves and pencil skirt are elements that I always find appealing. Detailing on jackets often had just one feature, whether it be top-stitching, an edge trim, a pocket trim or suchlike.

During the late 50s and early 60s, hemlines were still below the knee, and a shorter or 'boxy' unfitted jacket with 3/4 sleeves was worn with long gloves.

 

Not all skirts were pencil-shaped, though. The a-line was another popular look and continued to be present throughout the 60s and into the 70s.

Collars were generally open, and jacket decoration was minimal.

Large buttons and small accents such as bows or top stitching were often seen on jackets.

 

Knitted suits were big news too. They began to appear in acrylic versions from the mid-60s onwards.

The braided trim on this jacket adds tailored elegance to this simple design.

The introduction of crimplene allowed far greater versatility with fabric design. This suit dates to 1964.

 

Stand-away collars also featured on 60s jackets, as did faux pockets.

This suit from the mid-60s features a pleated skirt, hemline above the knee and dagger collar, which I'd say is now more commonly associated with the 70s rather than the 60s.

Despite the introduction of synthetic fabrics, wool and knitted tops remained high on the agenda.

 

The fringed pockets on this jacket are a lovely example of the minimalistic-yet-so-effective detailing.

Self-covered and/or pearlised buttons both continued to be available throughout the 60s. This suit dates to 1961.