Consulting the Silver Expert
REMOVING LABELS
If you have purchased a silver object with a price label that won’t peel off, don’t reach for a scrubby pad or steel wool. Instead, try using a hair dryer on a LOW setting (a heat gun is too hot) to warm the label gently. The label should now peel off cleanly. Note: Never use a hair dryer on lacquered pieces.
If the label leaves a sticky residue, wait for the piece to cool and try removing the glue with some hand sanitizer, canola oil, or olive oil on a cotton ball or make-up pad.
If this fails, place a cotton ball or make-up pad saturated with oil on the residue and let it sit for one hour (don’t worry, the oils won’t harm the silver). If it doesn’t work, try the method again until the adhesive has dissolved and wipe away with a paper towel, cotton ball, or make-up pad. Use Better Life Natural Glass Cleaner (it has a neutral pH) to remove any signs of the oil.
If a discolored spot remains where the adhesive had been, remove it with one of the least abrasive silver polishes (i.e. Blitz Silver Shine Polish or Herman’s Simply Clean™ Collectors Silver Polish).
Note: Products like Acetone, Goo Gone, Krud Cutter, Goof Off, and WD-40 will remove adhesive residue more rapidly but are less environmentally friendly. Should you decide to use these products, wear nitrile gloves and perform the task in a well-ventilated area.
Mr. Herman continues to offer his services to our readers for any questions you may have about the care of silver. Either contact him at (800) 339-0417 (USA) or via email: jeff @ hermansilver.com
The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.
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Welcome to 2012, a year that promises to be anything but boring with high economic, social, and political stakes. It is the year in which quite a few people are convinced none of us will see it through to the end, as they expect the world to end on 21 December. If you find this kind of talk disconcerting, then please rest assured that this prediction is one of eleven different versions of how it will all end at various anticipated times over the next 30 years, and that it joins a long list of 465 predictions for the end of the world of which there is a written record over the last 4,800 years ago. What seems to escape each person making and buying into such predictions, is that not a single one has come true. Our view is that 2012 will go to those who keep their eye on the ball, remaining in the moment and creating and having fun along the way.
such as handles. If tarnish does build up, remove it as soon as possible for two reasons: (1) it is much easier to remove tarnish in its early stages of formation; and (2) your silver will show less wear, as it will be exposed to less abrasion. Most of us are familiar with that light brown – and eventually black – color that forms on silver as it tarnishes. To catch tarnish in its very early stages, hold the silver object against a piece of white paper (glossy paper preferred). If tarnish has started to form, you will see a very light yellowish tint in the silver. Try removing this light tarnish with either Windex Multi-Surface Vinegar or Purell Original Formula hand sanitizer. Use a cotton towel or cotton ball and rotate the material regularly to expose unused surfaces – elements in the tarnish itself can be very abrasive. If tarnish remains after using the above products, a silver polish will be required (see my 
As part of a multi-month roll-out of improved butlerservice aboard the Norwegian Cruise lines thatis designed to set a new standard for butler service in the cruise line industry, enthusiastic butler trainers from several vessels completed their Train the Trainerscourse in December and will be heading back to their vessels to institute the next phase of the program.