HEEELLLLLLLP!

[danemodsandy]

Well, I thought I knew everything - absolutely everything - about collectible flatware. I've brought sterling that was black and bent back like new. I've replaced teak handles on Dansk so that you could not tell the difference. I've learned how to replicate a brushed finish. But this is stumping me!

What is going on is that the Oneida Twin Star I bought on Etsy has proved to have a buildup of gunk in the crevices. There is brown, nasty buildup in the stars, in the swirl line, and in the "Oneida Community Stainless" stamp on the back of each piece.

Soaking and scrubbing are not getting it all out. Oven cleaner is helping, but it's being slow going. This is not an oxidized detail - it's just plain old nasty dirt.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to ease this job? There are eighty-freakin'-three pieces to do, and they are not going on my table until they are clean right down to bare metal, all over.

P.S.: I thought of BIZ pre-soak, because of the enzymes, but the box says "do not soak metals." Anyone know if this applies to stainless?

Please help! All ideas welcome!

 

[ozzie908]

Washing powder may do it !

or the bleach soak may shift it and failing that there is always good old Coca Cola. Let the cutlery sit in it over night and then in the dishwasher and should be good to go on any table )

Austin

 

[xpanam]

Hi Sandy. Have you tried Bar Keepers Friend?

 

[mich]

I do personally know...

That Phosphate Laden - Cascade (Chlorine Formula) will remove this nasty gunk... But, it does say specifically not to soak Silver Items and such. 

 

I wouldn't do it, unless it was a last resort, but a few trips through the Dishwasher would polish them up. 

 

[dynaflow]

have u tried

Sandy,
try boiling it then scrub

 

[danemodsandy]

Forgot to Mention....

Dishwasher methods are not an option.

While I am the proud owner of the loveliest KitchenAid KDS-55 you ever saw, I can't use it at the present time, due to a very small kitchen with no space to put it. It's stored downstairs, awaiting the frabjous day when a larger kitchen will let it do its hurricane-in-a-box number once again.

So, hand methods will have to suffice. Dammit.

 

[gansky1]

Have you ever used LA's Totally Awesome cleaner? I've bought it at WalMart and Big Lots, usually around $1 - $1.50 for a spray bottle 24-32 oz. It's about the best stuff I've ever used for greasy, dried on gunk. It really is "totally awesome" and I used to swear by oven cleaner for jobs like this.

 

[danemodsandy]

Greg:

L.A. Totally Awesome is at my local Dollar Tree, where I'm headed tomorrow anyway, to pick up a new supply of Palmolive bar soap.

I have used it in the past, and I think you just might be on to the answer here. I also plan to pick up a couple of hard toothbrushes; the soft ones are not stiff enough to winkle the crud out of those star motifs.

Thanks, and I will report back!

 

[polkanut]

How about a brief hot water and Oxi Clean soak?

 

[whirlykenmore78]

A trip through the dishmachine

On the pots and pans cycle with high temp wash and a good detergent should clean this up.   Also if you can get your hands on some flatware presoak it will make the job that much easier.

WK78

 

[a440]

Have you tried the Baking Soda and Aluminum Foil trick?
I had to clean some silver and it worked like magic!
Line a pan with Aluminum Foil. Place your silver in it. Then sprinkle a lot of baking soda on top of it. Pour in boiling hot water. It will start to bubble and fizz up. While it is working its magic use some tongs and slosh the items around it it. Keep it in there as long as you need to.
It truly works. It has something to do with the Aluminum / Soda chemical reaction that causes the aluminum to attract the tarnish.
Promise...it works!
Brent

 

[retropia]

WD-40 is my go-to cleaner for certain types of problems. It will loosen rust and adhesive residue, and it seems to be safe for anything that can be later cleaned with soap and water. I suggest spraying it on a couple of pieces, put them in a sealed plastic bag overnight, and then see if the crud comes off in the morning with soap and water and a nylon brush.

 

[petek]

I was thinking something like Goo B Gon but the you may have to let the stuff wallow in it for a day and one bottle isn't going to be enough to soak that many pieces.

 

[polkanut]

This flatware is stainless steel, not silver.

 

[toploader55]

Take your Flatware...

Over to a Friend's House that has a KitchenAid with Soak and Scrub, or a machine with equal cleaning power.

Have a Coffee while the machine is running.

Another thought is running it through a Silver Burnishing machine.

 

[mich]

If you wanna know why...

LA's totally awesome works so well, it's because its loaded with Potassium & Trisodium Phosphate

 

[danemodsandy]

Greg Nailed It!

A trip to my nearby Dollar Tree got me two bottles of L.A. Totally Awesome cleaner and some hard toothbrushes.

I am extremely pleased to say that what was a sphere-buster yesterday is today, as Linda Richman used to say, like buttah.

Many thanks to all who offered suggestions, and Greg - you've really saved the day!

 

[whirlcool]

The aluminum foil & baking soda trick also uses salt to improve the conductivity of the solution.

 

[danemodsandy]

FEH!

Well, two lengthy sessions at the sink later, I'm winning, if not exactly through. Greg's suggestion of L.A. Totally Awesome cleaner has worked wonders, but there is still a ways to go.

The problem has been that the former owner was such an epically lousy dishwasher that brown gook built up in every crevice of the flatware. The swirl line on each piece (see the curved line on the handles of the pieces pictured below) had to be cleaned out with toothpicks, and so did the star motifs. Vigorous scrubbing was employed, as well as vigorous cursing.

After my best efforts with the Totally Awesome cleaner, I find that there are still a few pieces where gook didn't come out of a star motif. This means oven cleaner will have to be used on them, which can wait until another day off - I need to take a break at this point.

These nasty pieces came from Portland, Oregon, and I can only say this about the wretched hand dishwashing practices that gunked up this nice flatware: Somewhere in Oregon, there is a grave whose headstone records the last, dying, agonized words of someone who ate with the stuff before I cleaned it:

"I TOLD YOU WE SHOULD HAVE GOT MOMMA A DISHWASHER!"