Beautiful silverware needs proper care if it’s to keep its lustre and shine, otherwise it can become shabby looking within two or three years.

One of the most obvious ways this happens is the speedy tarnishing that occurs if it’s neglected. Tarnish is a greying that occurs on the surface of silver, which is the result of a chemical reaction between sulphur, silver, and oxygen. (In other words, the sulphur and oxygen in the air combine with pure silver to form silver sulphide, or “tarnish.”)

To avoid tarnish, wash your silverware in hot and soapy water after every use, rinse it in clean hot water, and dry it thoroughly with a soft, dry cloth - make sure you don’t put away any silver that’s damp. When you’re not using it, it’s best to keep your silverware in a tarnish-proof chest.

Polishing silverware gives it brilliance, but the best and easiest way to care for your silver is to use it daily. You shouldn’t have to polish it often if it’s washed and cleaned frequently. A tip, though: if your service has more place settings than the number you regularly use, do not use the same pieces all the time. Rotate them every few weeks, replacing the set of four, for example, that you’ve been using with the next four in the box. This ensures that all your silver pieces will appear to be the same age, and there will be no pieces that stand out when you set your table for a larger number of guests.

If you don’t use your silverware often, polish it once every six months or before special occasions, depending on when it shows signs of tarnish (use any well-known brand of silver polish).

MORE TIPS FOR USING AND CARING FOR SILVERWARE

1. Never leave silver spoons in fruits, vegetables, salads, or other dishes that contain eggs or acids any longer than necessary.

2. Most silver knives are now made with stainless steel blades. When using silver knives and forks together, be careful not to score the soft silver tines of the fork with the hard stainless knife edge. Not only will this damage the silver, it could make the fork uncomfortable or sharp in your mouth.

3. Do not use fine silverware for meal preparation - it can’t stand up to use as a cooking utensil. Spoon tips will wear or become misshapen, for example, if they are scraped along the bottoms of pans.

4. Wash knives, forks, and spoons separately - if you throw them all in the sink or dishpan together, the sharp blades of the knives and the tines of the forks will scratch the other pieces.

5. Never use spoons, knives, or forks to pry off the covers of jam or canned goods. There are better tools for this, and you can bend or scratch your utensils if you use the good silver.

6. Never leave silverware on a hot stove, and keep it away from excessive heat.

7. Do not use scouring powders made for cleaning sinks or porcelain to clean your silverware. They contain abrasives that will scratch the silver and seriously damage it.

8. Store silverware in a tarnish-proof chest or cabinet. As sold by many silverware manufacturers, these chests are guaranteed to protect silver when it’s not in use and to prevent tarnishing.