Shine On, Baby!

As is most likely common knowledge, us southern gals have a lot of sterling silver on hand. If there's a stainless steel option, I guarantee you there is a sterling silver equivalent, and some southern bride has that on her wedding registry. Our mamas and grandmamas had tons of the stuff, so of course we do also.

I'm not shy about using silver in every day life. If you have it, then use it. Dark and dusty silver is sad silver.

Now, I'm just some random girl on the internet, but listen to me when I tell you about a product every Silver-loving Lady needs to have on hand.

Wright's Silver Cream Polish

Now, I don't know about you or your neck of the woods, but look hard enough, and you'll find this stuff is available at the grocery, the drug store, and pretty much any supermarket in the south. It's that canonical. It may seem pricey, but the shine is worth it.

Before

I have a set of silver goblets with engraved initials on them, and for a recent dinner party, I polished those bad boys up. Splash a bit of water on the enclosed applicator sponge, work a dab over an area, and you'll be surprised how easily the tarnish comes off. Works equally well on jewelry, utensils, serving pieces, christmas ornaments. ANYTHING silver!

After

The shine stays very well, but a hint for all silver-lovers out there... oxygen is the enemy of shininess. If you've got a bunch of silver to store, get some clean/unused plastic grocery bags, wrap the silver in cloth or paper towels to wick away any moisture, and enclose tightly as you can in the grocery bags to eliminate air. Tie with a rubber band or twist tie. You don't want the plastic directly on the silver, but it will help in eliminating air from the swaddled pieces.