Cleaning Trophies

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Cleaning trophies is part of our daily work and we've some tips to help you restore your trophies to a lustrous shine. Many trophies are made from soft materials such as silver, acrylic, and pewter so always use a soft cloth to reduce the risk of scratching.

Fingerprints on shiny or clear surfaces

• Breath on the blemish and rub gently with a soft cloth

Acrylic trophies

1. Clean with Pledge and a soft cloth
2. Buff off Pledge using a, second, clean cloth

Metals

For metals there are many pastes and liquids that are suitable. Liquids are often gentler on plated metal than pastes. This is an issue with silver and gold plated metals. Over time the plating can be worn away through polishing. So with silver and gold plate start off with the gentlest cleaning option and use the stronger cleaners as a last resort, eg the trophy is black! However with sterling silver and solid gold you may prefer the pastes as they can help to remove minor scratches.

Sterling silver has a stamp such as '925' or 'STG' to identify it. Gold will either have a karat stamp, eg 9k, 18k, or the percentage of gold, eg 375. The percentage is found by dividing the karat by 24, eg 9k/24=.375.  Plated metals may have no stamp at all, or the letters EPNS, or some small manufacturers marks.

Brass Plaques

• If they are dusty, use soapy water and a soft cloth
• If they are tarnished use a metal polishing paste, or a liquid like Brasso
  1. Wear gloves as any accidental fingerprints tarnish quickly
  2. Polish in direction of grain (if there is one)
  3. Remove polish with separate cloth

Silverware

1. Wash in warm, soapy, water with a soft cloth to remove dirt
2. Polish using silver polish and a soft cloth (Do not use Brasso or Scouring Pads)
3. Remove any remaining polish with a soft cloth or wash in soapy water
4. Check the cup half an hour later. Sometimes some of the polish residue is left behind, by this time it will have turned into a fine white powder that can be brushed off with a soft cloth.

Or, you can try a silver dipping solution. We've found that solutions sometimes work very well. But often we need to use a polish as well. Your mileage may vary.

1. Wash in warm, soapy, water with a soft cloth to remove dirt
2. Put on gloves
3. Make sure there is good ventilation as the solution can be quite smelly
4. Dip the item, or use a soft cloth to apply solution to larger items
5. Use water to rinse off the solution. Do this straight away as the solution can turn silver a murky yellow if left on too long!

For removing small scratches from sterling (solid) silver you might try a metal polishing paste. Pastes are more aggressive than liquid polishes, so don't use them on silver plated items.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel can be cleaned with most quick evaporating cleaners and a soft cloth. Choose from the following suggestions:-

• Wash with water
• Wash in warm, soapy, water
• Meths
• Any cleaning alcohol
• Ammonnia based glass cleaner

Pewter

1. Wash with warmy soapy water to remove dust, food, and drink.
2. Use a metal polishing paste (often sold in tubs or tubes) and a soft cloth
3. Polish until shiny. This may take some time if the pewter was dull to start with. Be careful not to press too hard as pewter is very soft and can easily be squashed!
4. Wash in warm soapy water to remove any remaining polish residue.