I've been putting my silver in the dishwasher for 43 years. My mom has put hers in the dishwasher for 65 years. No problems with any of it. This only works, of course, if you have a d/w! DH doesn't like to let the hollow handle knives go in, so he washes them by hand - otherwise, everything else goes.

As for your original question, if you still want to wash by hand, soaking overnight should by just fine.

thanks. just wanted to check since i obviously don't want to harm it. i put it in the dishwasher once but didn't like the way it turned out, as it wasn't really shiny.i ended up hand washing again anyway.

when you put yours in the DW, do you use detergent? i'm thinking maybe that's why it didn't turn out well; maybe using detergent isn't such a great idea.

I've always put the used ends in warm water. It can stay that way certainly overnight. Once or twice it's been longer. If longer, just change the water till you get to it.

I let it soak in water, but I do not put the knives in. Stainless steel (blades) can react with silver and soaking the joint into which blades are embedded is not a good idea. My late MIL always put her silver in the dishwasher and it looked awful--sort of white and chalky. Some GWers have had success that way, though. I don't want to try it.

We wash my late grandmother's silverware by hand, and have left them soaking in a Pyrex baking dish with a little soapy water overnight . We used to add a little plain ammonia to the water for soaking/washing, but I stopped buying/using ammonia in the house after we reno'd the kitchen (and had granite countertops installed). I had had the silver dipped and polished back in the 1980's-early '90's because it wasn't in very good shape (dull, really scratched up, etc.). The guy who did the work told me to add ammonia to the wash water to inhibit tarnishing perhaps. Now we just use soapy water to wash them and then dry the pieces right away.

I "polish" the silver with a "rouge" cloth before putting it away, so it is shined-up and ready to use for the next time.

I wouldn't soak the knives (just swish them around first then pull them out) but the rest, sure.

Older knives especially can have all sorts of issues due to the different metals, the hollow handles, the stuff IN the handles, etc. Newer ones might still be joined tight enough to not suffer from a good soak but better to leave them out anyway.

Silver coins survive hundreds or even thousands of years at the bottom of the sea and once cleaned up look like new. I think your silver can survive a night in a pan of water.

kate....I have always used detergent with my sterling. I like to use the silver, and I don't baby it. It has developed a rich patina over the years from many family dinners...lots of memories. My MIL had the same pattern and ours has now been mixed with hers...can't tell which is which, and hers is from the forties.

I did try to separate the sterling from the stainless in the basket in my old dw. Not sure if it mattered.

I use the dishwasher. But, you have to be careful to not allow any other utensils touch the silver. Stainless washed with sterling will discolor the sterling. So, put them in different areas and wash away. Otherwise, soak and wait for the next morning to hand wash.

My mother used her sterling every day and placed them in the DW, separating the sterling from other utensils. I never really liked how they looked after a cleaning in the machine.

I just soak mine overnight in a tupperware bin similar to cat_mom.

Here is a link to the Silver Superstore care of silver recommendations.

Here is a link that might be useful: Includes dishwasher information