Search...
Home Subscribe
Pie
Home Subscribe
Recent topics Flagged topics Hot topics Best topics
Search...
Search within personal care Search permies
Advance search Google search
Register / Login
online permaculture design course Paul with rocket oven Green Living Book Oehler complete underground house and green house set
  • Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
Rocket oven kitty Full online Permaculture Design course and Appropriate Technology Course video Green Living Book permaculture bootcamp sketch with tools SKip students loans through permaculture kickstarter
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • John F Dean
  • Timothy Norton
  • Nancy Reading
  • r ranson
  • Jay Angler
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • paul wheaton
  • Tereza Okava
  • AndrĂ©s Bernal
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • M Ljin
  • Matt McSpadden

health effects of real silverware?

 
Wade Whiddon
Posts: 7
posted 10 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hey all!

Not sure if this topic has come up elsewhere. I tried searching with no results.

Does anyone know is using antique, real silverware for everyday use is bad for your health?

Is stainless steel the best option still? The old utensils are just so rustic and have way more character.

Thanks!!
 
R Scott
pollinator
Posts: 4143
Location: Kansas Zone 6a
327
posted 10 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
It depends.

Some friends swear they got metal poisoning from their silverware. Other friends swear they are the best thing for their health, like getting colloidal silver with every bite.

They are probably both right, to an extent. It really depends on the quality of the silverware to begin with.

"You must be the change you want to see in the world." "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." --Mahatma Gandhi
"Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words." --Francis of Assisi.
"Family farms work when the whole family works the farm." -- Adam Klaus

 
Dave Hartman
Posts: 62
Location: Off grid in the central Rockies of Montana (at 6300') zone 3-4ish
2
posted 10 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Silver is used as an antibiotic in past and in the alternative medicine scene. I use colloidal silver for wounds and it works well as a mouth rinse when I am having issues with my teeth.
I also like real silverware because silver is used as an exchange in the place of fiat money. Real silverware is basically an investment in my opinion.
 
Kelly Smith
Posts: 724
Location: In a rain shadow - Fremont County, Southern CO
22
posted 10 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
i think you should be fine.
as mentioned, real silver is anti-microbial/biotic.

the term "born with a silver spoon in his mouth" refers to a time when the wealthy used silverware and the properties of the silver helped keep them healthy (think 'back in the black plague days' )

http://www.cloud9farms.com/ - Southern Colorado - Zone 5 (-19*f) - 5300ft elevation - 12in rainfall plus irrigation rights
Dairy cows, "hair" sheep, Kune Kune pigs, chickens, guineas and turkeys

 
R Scott
pollinator
Posts: 4143
Location: Kansas Zone 6a
327
posted 10 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Silver itself is good. The question is the purity of the silver and if the impurities are toxic.

"You must be the change you want to see in the world." "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." --Mahatma Gandhi
"Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words." --Francis of Assisi.
"Family farms work when the whole family works the farm." -- Adam Klaus

 
Leila Rich
steward
Posts: 3999
Location: Wellington, New Zealand. Temperate, coastal, sandy, windy,
118
posted 10 years ago
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I dunno about you lot, but I've never seen cutlery that's got more than a thin layer of silver plate
over an alloy of some sort-generally nickel somethingorather.
I use stainless steel cutlery, although the oldschool stuff is much more my 'thing'.
I have no concerns about health effects,
but I can't stand the metallic taste of old cutlery where the silver's worn.

Off topic, but as a kid I made a massive pot of French onion soup.
Hours of slicing, caramelising, cooking.
When I tasted it, it was hideous.
If you've ever sawed through bone, that's what it tasted like.

I tipped it out, and at the bottom was a bone handled butter knife...
Beware the bone handled cutlery
 
Thekla McDaniels
gardener
Posts: 3441
Location: Western Slope Colorado.
723
4
I like...
goat dog food preservation medical herbs solar greening the desert
posted 10 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
There are two kinds of old silverware. There is silver plate, and there is sterling silver. The sterling is usually stamped with an identifying mark. The plate will usually show signs of wear. Look at the rounded bottom of the spoon (or fork) where it will rest on the table. If the plate is worn, that is where you will see it.

The pure sterling silver is made of the same stuff as jewelry. It's good stuff, not likely to poison you.

Thekla

Best luck: satisfaction

Greatest curse, greed

 
Wade Whiddon
Posts: 7
posted 10 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Awesome information people. Thanks!

Maybe it would be good to research a bit about the few different kinds and be able to determine which is which before one buys some.
 
Bryant RedHawk
gardener
Posts: 6829
Location: Arkansas - Zone 7B/8A stoney, sandy loam soil pH 6.5
1690
I like...
hugelkultur dog forest garden duck fish fungi hunting books chicken writing homestead
posted 10 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Wade Whiddon wrote:Awesome information people. Thanks!

Maybe it would be good to research a bit about the few different kinds and be able to determine which is which before one buys some.



Easily done, look on the back side of the flatware handle, if solid silver it will be stamped "Sterling"

If there is no mark as above, it is silver plated.

List of Bryant RedHawk's Epic Soil Series Threads We love visitors, that's why we live in a secluded cabin deep in the woods. "Buzzard's Roost (Asnikiye Heca) Farm." Promoting permaculture to save our planet.

 
Xisca Nicolas
pollinator
Posts: 1981
Location: La Palma (Canary island) Zone 11
10
I like...
purity forest garden tiny house wofati bike solar
posted 7 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I was having this question too! My old familly silverware is stamped, but it is not "written" sterling....

When plated, I would like to know what is likely to be below...

Xisca - pics! Dry subtropical Mediterranean - My project
However loud I tell it, this is never a truth, only my experience...

 
Inge Leonora-den Ouden
pollinator
Posts: 3300
Location: Meppel (Drenthe, the Netherlands)
1097
I like...
dog forest garden urban cooking bike fiber arts
posted 7 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Xisca Nicolas wrote:I was having this question too! My old familly silverware is stamped, but it is not "written" sterling....

When plated, I would like to know what is likely to be below...


Probably it depends on where the silverware is from (which country), and how old it is (which century). As far as I know there are many different 'stamps' to show if it is solid silver or silver plated.

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

 
Mike Biscay
Posts: 1
Location: Toledo, OH
I like...
hugelkultur forest garden urban
posted 7 years ago
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Sterling Silver will be stamped "Sterling" or "925" or ".925" or possibly "Ster" and that mark should be accompanied by the name or trademark of the manufacturer. This means that the piece is 92.5% silver and 7.5% alloy, usually copper. The copper is alloyed with the silver during the manufacturing process and is not any danger to the user. Silver plate is a much less closely defined product, with the depth of plating varying widely. Silver is electroplated over a base metal, usually brass, which is subject to oxidation and the formation of verdigris, a poisonous copper acetate, in the presence of acetic acid, i.e. vinegar. Silver plated ware that has lost some of its silver layer should probably not be used to eat from. At best it can cause off-flavors if used in acidic foods, at worst - you did notice that verdigris is poisonous, right? Probably not terribly dangerous in the miniscule quantities you'd consume from your salad fork, but is it worth taking the chance?

Mike

Teaching a person to fish only works if he lives near water. Teaching that person to farm can feed the whole community.

gift
 
Solar Station Construction Plans by Ben Peterson -- ebook
will be released to subscribers in: soon!
click here for details
reply
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
Boost this thread!
Similar Threads
More...