Tea Set

Whats the best way to clean and polish an antique silver tea set?

I have this silver tea and coffee set that i would like to start using. How do i clean it after i use it, soap and water or just water? Also how often do i need to polish it and what should i use to do so?

This is actually three questions, so there are three answers.

For appearance purposes, remove the tarnish as follows:

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/silverdip.htm

Most tea sets have intricate designs on the exterior, so using a dip method will save time in restoring the appearance.

How often should you polish it – well, that depends on how you store it and how often you use it. See the following link:

http://www.silversmithing.com/care.htm

It also depends on how much you want to spend on tarnish-prevention devices such as Pacific cloth.

For health/safety purposes, there can be residue from tea, coffee, sugar, cream / creamer and lemon. In order to avoid taste contamination of the NEXT batch of ingredients, soap and water would be required. Items like sugar and cream can attract ants as well as suffering deterioration over time.

Kidkraft Prairie Tea Set 63182 Pretend Play Kitchen Accessories