very old filigree silver broaches need cleaning.

Watty1

Any ideas for cleaning some very old silver. This isn't hall marked stuff, but probably Indian silver from about the turn of the century.  3 pieces that belonged to my grandmother and I think her mother.  I bought some jewellery cleaner and dipped them in but that did nothing (all 3 pieces are tarnished badly).  I used to clean by dipping in cutlery cleaner but I don't have any of that just now and the jewellery cleaner was pointless (I tried it on a silver bangle and it made no difference so I cleaned that with some silver polish from under the sink but the filigree stuff is to fine for that to work on).

Any ideas? I love the pieces for sentimental reasons and would like to get them sparkling again.

kazwookie

google suggests no idea if it works or not.  Maybe phone a local filigree seller of some sort and ask as well before you do anything

Baking soda, salt and aluminum foil.

Lay all of your darkened costume jewelry on the foil. Mix one tablespoon salt and one tablespoon of baking soda and mix with one cup warm water. Pour into the dish. The mixture will create a chemical reaction with the foil and bubble as it cleans the jewelry.

Floss

Nancy Birtwhistle does this:

Line a bowl with tin foil, carefully so you don't tear it.
Put 1 tablespoon of Bicarb in.
Add the jewellery.
Pour over boiling water to cover.
Leave for 5 minutes.
Remove using tongs.
Dry & polish with a soft cloth.

Brie

yes the foil and bicarb works.  My mom used to use that when she needed to get her silver (teapots etc) shiny in a hurry.  You must make sure it doesn't stay in the mix too long as it will strip away the silver and if you have just silver and not the plated stuff like a teapot then you might end up with nothing.  That's why mom only used it occasionally and used the proper silver polish the rest of the time.  

If you did want to try the commercial polish again you might do better if you had a soft toothbrush to give the pieces a scrub.  Maybe while laying flat on a bit of material like a linen tea towel.  

weenancyinAmerica

We used toothpaste to clean our tea set. Just rub it on.