Today we address a highly controversial issue. Sterling silver polish. Now, I am not one to shy away from Hot Topic, which is why I decided it was time to address the monkey in the room. Because silver polish is exactly that, a monkey in the room. What kind? That’s not important. Or maybe it’s cute, with ear tufts, but that’s beside the point.

I roll deep in the silver bracelets. Polishing them this morning I realized I have a selection of polishes and I don’t actually know which ones are the best, or when to use them, if they’re safe with gems or anything.

So practicing the scientific method I learned from 6th grade science fairs, I made an experiment. I tried each polish on a different tarnished bracelet.

You’ll notice the left side is unpolished, the right is polished. Frankly, I didn’t find any real, quantifiable difference between the brands except the Goddard’sdip is easiest to use.

However, this Nancy Drew was not yet ready to call a draw. I needed to get the scoop from the pros, so I rang Robertino at Hutten Jewelers and asked for his recommendation. Well, firstly, because they are fantastic, they told me to bring my jewelry to their shop and they’d polish it free of charge. Excellent customer service, but that didn’t answer my questions. Evading the issue, aren’t you Robertino?!?

Robertino then explained to me that there is different polish for silverware versus jewelry. They currently use Wright’s polish for the silverware they sell, but for jewelry he uses baking soda!! He stressed the importance of properly washing off the items after using the baking soda because it will continue to eat away at the metals. His next recommendation is for Goddard’s Silver Dip and my face was like:

ERMAGAWD that’s exactly the one that I preferred! So there you have it, for jewelry use either baking soda (thoroughly rinsed off) or Goddard’s Silver Dip and for silverware use Wright’s. From the pros mouths to yours. Well, not to your mouth, maybe to your eyeballs.

Signing off, make each day (pause, whip off glasses) a silver one.