GoTravel, here's another thought. Perhaps you look like a native and they leave you alone, while the rest of us look like Gringos in the big city?

Thank you Silvia and Gomiki. I will do a test and put a few silver things in a closed container with a couple of mothballs (camphor??) and see what happens! The cloths are great but it still takes a lot of work to polish up something with intricate work on it....well if I would only devote the time to polishing that I seem to be devoting to posting here, maybe I would make some progress!!

That's a thought Neopolitan. People ask me for directions all the time when I'm in NYC.

ekscrunchy...no NOT mothballs..two very different things!!

And they need to be tarnish free (or as much as possible) first...won't take off tarnish. And never wrap silver in plastic. It will damage the surface.

And what about cleaning silver jewelry by lining a dish with aluminum foil and pouring in ammonia. Works like a charm on silverware.

Neopolitan, I've always heard that's a bad thing (?) We need a chemist! Any out there??? Or a thread on how to clean silver (so we can put it away tarnish free before we travel). Which makes me laugh just thinking about it!!

Ok, I hope you guys are not putting me on here. Where do I buy camphor? (What are mothballs. naptha?) I will put the clean pieces in the plastic container (not wrapped in plastic) with the camphor after I locate it. Then close the container...Or I suppose wrapping the silver in those cloths would be good, and then putting in the plastic containers......I am thinking empty deli containers...

Neo I think the ammonia would not be good for the finish but what do I know......??

eks, google "camphor to prevent silver tarnish"..lots of info. My friend had sticks of it (like chalk) in her cabinet. I don't know if plastic containers are good or bad. Do they give off some chemicals or anything?? Don't know.

Google is an amazing thing. I got tired of reading. One hit started with "but such chemicals are not as good as ammonia" but when I went to that site I couldn't find anything about ammonia.

Here's one good jewelry cleaning site, and it includes ammonia:
http://tinyurl.com/jczdu

Here's another that says not to use ammonia:
http://www.billoware.com/Silvercare.html

Who knows. But I did see several that said to NEVER USE TOOTHPASTE.

Neopolitan, we still need that chemist or jeweler...it makes your head spin!! But I do know that once it was clean that camphor WORKED!!

Here is an answer to your question with NO political agenda. I bought a "fake" Rolex on Canal street 2 months ago. It is as close to the real thing as you can get...I even took it to a jeweler who sells Rolexes and asked to take one out of the case to compare it. The jeweler even commented how exact it was; the differences were minor. Here's my advice: First know exactly what you want, color, size, etc. and ask for that - they have it somewhere. Many "sellers" will approach you on the street...ask the price but don't buy from the first guy. My watch started at $80 and ranged down to $35. Look at everything first and then go back and get what you want. Have fun!

Thanks everyone for the silver info....will do some experimenting and report back. Have to find the camphor first...I am sure google will help me out here. Gracious Home in NYC will know, also.

Interesting about the Rolex. I know next to nothing about watches, although I do know that if someone is in the market for a "real" name watch, you can check retail prices at a place such as Tourneau and then go to 47th Street, NYC and have one of the dealers there order the same watch for you at deep discount. You can find these people online as well. Along the lines of "nobody in NYC pays retail....." Apropos of nothing, really, just thought I would throw that info out there.

dolciani, I had a similar experience.

And i think in threads like this,
no one is going to change another's
mind on an internet forum.
Maybe we should all just get
back to *true* travel posts.

The Society of American Silversmiths gives information on Silver Care at this website: http://www.silversmithing.com/care.htm

Has anyone else ever noticed that whenever someone asks about fakes, someone always comes forth and explains how, "they bought the best fake in the world"?

And how, "they took their fake to the Gucci Store or Rolex Store or Fendi Store (take your pick) and the sales people could not tell the fake from the real deal"?

I don't doubt it, my friend with the fake Kate Spade put it next to a real one, and we couldn't tell the difference. The trim was real leather, stitched on, etc. It was as though they were made in the very same factory. Maybe they were.

I find it amusing that inevitably, when someone inquires about Canal Street, a bunch of people who claim to never buy fakes suddenly know that they're all "junk." Wrong -- quality varies considerably, and some fakes do rival the originals (while others are cheap "throw-away" items).

And one person's junk is another's treasure anyway.

Rentlover, ignore those self-righteous Alpha-Hotels. They are probably the same people who drive an SUVs with stickers that say, "Support Our Troops!"

NYPD has crack down on a lot of the fake traders in Chinatown. What you see now are guys standing on street corners whispering "Gucci, Prada" at passerbys. I assume they will take you to a store where the merchandises are hidden.

Good luck!

Hmmmm, people do make interesting assumptions. I use public transportation and foot power, and have been anti-war since the beginning. (Which is not the same as being anti-troops, of course; however, I just wanted to reassure you of my \ leanings.)

And I believe that it's wrong to support illegal activities and that there are many more profitable ways of "sticking it to the man" than to reproduce the appearance of elitist handbags. I've got no problem with people buying cheap stuff, but why pretend it's not? That's just odd.