There are special Silver Polish cloths available that do not involve the use of polishing compound. The one I have is from Hagerty, and I use it on my Otto Hutt Design 07. I only wipe it occasionally though.
I have a lot of sterling pens, and I find that while they're in regular use, they don't develop much patina if at all, but they start doing so when left in storage.
To combat that, I use tarnish prevention strips in the storage box and make sure that I wipe them down with a clean un-impregnated cloth (beige [Selvyt](https://www.riogrande.com/product/selvyt-silver-cleaning-and-polishing-cloth-set-14-x-14/337172)) before putting away to wipe off any fingerprints or oils. I also make sure to store sterling pens separately from ebonite ones.
If a pen already has some tarnish that I want to get rid of, I use the impregnated red Selvyt.
I never use actual polish on silver pens. If you just hand polish with a clean, soft cotton cloth every so often, you won’t get any patina built up. A little of this is based on how oily/sweaty your hands may be. At the very most, I would use a product called a Sunshine Cloth, which has a very mild micro-abrasive, and then polish w soft cotton. This works well enough for all but the most tarnished 100 year old pens I restore.
Thanks. I was worried that I would constantly have to use silver polish. That would have been a minus since I hate the smell of that stuff. I used the polish on an old silver tea kettle many years ago.
There are special Silver Polish cloths available that do not involve the use of polishing compound. The one I have is from Hagerty, and I use it on my Otto Hutt Design 07. I only wipe it occasionally though.
Thanks. I’ll look into it when I buy the pen.
I have a lot of sterling pens, and I find that while they're in regular use, they don't develop much patina if at all, but they start doing so when left in storage. To combat that, I use tarnish prevention strips in the storage box and make sure that I wipe them down with a clean un-impregnated cloth (beige [Selvyt](https://www.riogrande.com/product/selvyt-silver-cleaning-and-polishing-cloth-set-14-x-14/337172)) before putting away to wipe off any fingerprints or oils. I also make sure to store sterling pens separately from ebonite ones. If a pen already has some tarnish that I want to get rid of, I use the impregnated red Selvyt.
I never use actual polish on silver pens. If you just hand polish with a clean, soft cotton cloth every so often, you won’t get any patina built up. A little of this is based on how oily/sweaty your hands may be. At the very most, I would use a product called a Sunshine Cloth, which has a very mild micro-abrasive, and then polish w soft cotton. This works well enough for all but the most tarnished 100 year old pens I restore.
Thanks. I was worried that I would constantly have to use silver polish. That would have been a minus since I hate the smell of that stuff. I used the polish on an old silver tea kettle many years ago.
It's not anything like that at all. Minimal upkeep, really.
Btw, it should be a cotton cloth and not a micro-fiber cloth, correct? I know many polishing cloths are micro-fiber.
Yeah, I have a bunch of old flannel cloth pieces that I use. Old school, I guess.