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Caring For Your Copper: Nature's Second Silver
Copper may be aptly called nature's second silver because of its inherent malleability and usefulness. Aside from being useful in electronics, copper wares and decorative articles remain as the less expensive alternative when it comes to dressing up the living room, the bedroom, or when adding cooking articles to the kitchen.
How to care for your copper
One should remember that copper tarnishes at a faster pace than other metals, especially if the air is always moist. Therefore, a general rule of thumb is that copper articles, when not in use, should always be placed well away from parts of the house that have moist air currents.
If your copper pieces have lacquer protecting the copper surfaces, then you only need to do regular dusting and cleaning to keep those surfaces looking brand new. Warm water and soap are also recommended, to remove invisible stains of dirt and plaque from the surfaces of the copper pieces.
Now, lacquer might be quite attractive for decorative copper pieces, but remember- these lacquers are potentially poisonous when ingested, and thus, copper pieces like spoons and forks should have the lacquer removed before use.
If you have pots made of copper, and you think they have already seen better days, then you simply have to use lemon that has been inundated with salt. The lemon and salt would act as a natural, moist polisher that would remove the tarnishing after a few minutes.
Acidic Food
Another important reminder is that copper should never be used to serve or eat food that is far too acidic for copper to handle. Copper is still a chemical element- it will still react to certain chemicals if you use it in the right conditions. These are natural processes, but what is produced would be completely poisonous to humans.
If your pots and pans only have copper bottoms, you should practice regular cleaning of these bottoms to avoid immediate tarnishing. In any case, tarnishing is not the same as rusting. It really is up to you if you wish to polish those copper bottoms regularly.
Did you know that salt, vinegar and even flour are used to clean copper? That's right. Combined, these three chemicals are wonderful copper cleaners and magically restore coppers to their former glory.
A salt and vinegar solution may be used to remove the tarnishing of copper articles. This approach is useful only if you are willing to subject the copper articles to temperatures in excess of 90 degrees. The salt and vinegar must be placed in the boiling water with the copper articles and made to stand for many, many hours.
After boiling, the copper articles must then be washed one last time and dried properly with non-abrasive material.
Baking soda is also used to remove the tarnishing of copper. Mixed with a bit of lemon, baking soda would form a thin paste that may be applied directly to the tarnished portions of the copper articles. After you have done enough rubbing, the copper articles should again be washed and dried properly. You can try other combinations as well, as long as the chemicals used are not too acidic.
About the Author The author of this article was Benedict Yossarian. For home improvements Benedict recommends Dekorbeton Imprinted Concrete as a cheap alternative to expensive bricks and Roof Bond Spray Foam Roof Insulation to reduce your heating costs.
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