1st sem F&B notes practicals Cleaning/Polishing of EPNS items

          Cleaning/Polishing of EPNS items

The purpose of this practical is to make you learn about various cleaning/polishing of EPNS items. At the end of this practical you should know about various cleaning/polishing methods.

Silver Cleaning Methods:

The cleanliness of all service silver is very important. There are various methods of silver cleaning. Method used generally depends on quantity, size of item, class of establishment and the cost involved. Some of the silver cleaning methods include:

BURNISHING METHOD

 This process is a bulky, hence suitable only for large establishments .This method of silver cleaning keeps the silver in good condition with minimum effort and gives a long lasting polish. It saves time, money, and labour and produces an unbeatable shine. Regularly treated items keep their original shining and their lifetime is considerably increased.

Ø  It is a revolving drum with a safety shield.

Ø  There may be a provision to insert a rod from one end to the other end of the drum, the rod is removable and may be used to pass through the handles of teapots, coffee pots, milk jugs , sugar basins, etc, to hold them in position while the drum is revolving.

Ø  The drum is half filled with highly polished bearing balls.

Ø  To these bearing balls, certain amount of detergent (ERI special soap, ERI deoxidizer) is added according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Ø  The silver required to be polished is placed inside.

Ø  Water should be poured into the drum until the bearing balls are covered.

Ø  The lid is closed tightly and machine is turned on.

Ø  As the drum revolves the mixture of water, detergent powder acts as a lubricant between the silver and bearing balls. Thus, any tarnish is removed from cutlery and hollowware.

Ø  After removing from the burnishing machine, the silver should be rinsed in hot water and polished with a clean dry tea cloth.

      Advantages:-

·         This method effectively removes watermarks and tarnish.

·         It achieves a consistently high shine.

·         It reduces labour costs compared to manual methods.

·         It is very time saving method.

·         It is easy to handle.

Points to remember :-

·         The balls used should be spherical, polished and non magnetic ones.

·         Bearing balls should be kept submerged in water even when not in use to prevent rusting.

·         Items need to be carefully positioned in the drum to prevent damage.

·         Hollowware can be damaged if large heavy items are burnished in the same compartment.

This method is not suitable for cleaning forks and knives as the prongs of forks are not cleaned properly and continuous use may damage the cutting edge of knives.

POLIVIT METHOD  OR  ELECTROLYTIC METHOD

A polivit is an aluminium metal foil containing holes which is best used in an enamel or galvanized iron bowl. It is a quick way of cleaning silver. This method produces good results and is suitable for large pieces of equipment such as entrée dishes, salvers, trays and jugs, etc..

Ø  The galvanized iron bowl is washed and the aluminium foil is put inside.

Ø  The silver to be cleaned is then put into the bowl, ensuring that at least one piece of the silver is in contact with the aluminium foil.

Ø  Sufficient boiling water is poured into the bowl to cover the silver being cleaned.

Ø  Washing soda of about 30 gm per 5 lit should be added to the water.

Ø  A chemical reaction takes place between the polivit, soda, boiling water and silver which causes the tarnish to be lifted.

Ø  After 3-4 minutes, the silver should be removed from the bowl.

Ø  The silver should be rinsed in hot water and polished with a clean dry tea cloth.

PLATE POWDER METHOD

This method is ideal for articals that cannot be cleaned by the above methods. Items cleaned by this method are cruets, toast rack, parts of trolly etc. This is pink powder, which needs mixing with a little methylated sprit to obtain a smooth paste. The reason for using methylated spirit to mix the powder is that when the paste is rubbed on the article the spirit evaporates much more quickly than would water, and the silver is therefore, ready for polishing much more quickly, if however, methylated spirit is not available, then water may be used, but the cleaning process takes a little longer.

 Following points must be considered while the silver polishing is done using this method.

Ø  Ensure the powder or paste is of a reputable brand, for example Hegarry.

Ø  Once prepared, apply the paste onto silverware with a soft cloth or sponge---either of which should be thoroughly and freshly washed to eliminate any abrasive dust particles which could cause scratching.

Ø  The silver is then left until the paste has dried, and the paste is then rubbed off with a clean cloth.

Ø  Rinse the silver in hot water and polish with a soft, dry tea cloth.

Keep in mind:-

·         The article to be cleaned must be free from grease.

·         When silver is cleaned that has a design or engraving on it, a small toothbrush may be used to brush the paste in to the design and a clean one is used to remove it.

·         Only those polishes sold specifically for silver should be used; cleaners intended for chromium plate, stainless steel, etc. will scratch silver.

SILVER DIP

This method is very quick and produces good results because of the chemical reaction between the liquid and the silver; however it is a popular method in the medium –sized establishments. This is a less arduous method of detarnishing, especially on heavily embossed designs whose crevices are difficult to clean with silver powder.

Ø  This is an acid base solution.

Ø  This solution is put into a plastic bowl and the silver to be cleaned is placed into a wire basket and dipped into the plastic bowl containing the solution.

Ø  The equipment should be completely submerged in the solution.

Ø  The silver should be left in the bowl only for very short time. Never leave silver plated cutlery in the dip solution for more than 10 seconds.

Ø  The items are removed and drained

After draining it is placed in warm water, rinsed and wiped with a clean dry tea cloth. This method is quick but may damage the silver due to chemical reaction between silver and solution.