I would use silver cloth. I read somewhere that plastic is not the place to store polished silver.

I know plastic works because when I go to trade shows I see all the stock of
silver jewelry is bagged in ziplock bags. You can see the item, which may have been bagged a
long time, yet it is not tarnished. I just don't know if there is anything special about the bags.

My Mom (long gone) had tried saran wrap on hers, so I know that that for
sure does NOT work. Wherever it touched the silver it tarnished. Whatever was
in the plastic attracted sulfur.

I have a storage bag for a set of spoons. I assumed it was silvercloth. But
when I unrolled it, I saw all the spoons were tarnished.

I have a drawer that is lined with silver cloth and the silver stays pretty shiny. I do polish it about once a year but that's because I want to.

Anything that can exclude the sulphur molecules in air will work. The tarnish is various silver-sulphur compounds.

"Silver cloth" works because it has silver and sacrifices itself to save the flatware. Plastic works by excluding the gaseous sulphur compounds.

Pretty sure you can find "silver cloth" by the yard (or foot) at Joanne's?? Thinking saran or other plastic wrap is NOT the way to go. Have a feeling there needs to be some air circulation. Went thru a craft stage where I was making wind chimes from "craft" silver-plate stuff I got for cheap off Ebay. Got a BIG lot of stuff that contained a lot of one pattern. Bunches of spoons/forks with rubber bands holding together. Condition was really good so I took the time and elbow grease to clean them up. Areas around rubber bands were the hardest to get to budge. I found a "silver chest" at a thrift store or yard sale to store things in. Haven't looked at it in a few years, but know it';; be ready to use after sitting all that time in my garage.

My aunt stored chalk in her silver chest (that I inherited) to keep tarnish out of her sterling. I'd never heard of that, but it works! Not sure how to implement it with a candelabra, but here's an article about it... more on google

Chalk prevents tarnish

I have to go to Joann’s this week. I’ll check. I know a better fabric store
carries it (Vogue: a search turned that up) but I’m not sure if it is just
online sales.

I had heard about the chalk thing, but that it has to be “old style” chalk
and not the “newer” modern chalk that has hardening agents added. But how would
I tell?! I kind of gave up on that idea after I read that.

klseiverd , I know what you mean about the rubber bands! I found out when cleaning some pieces that my Mom had rubber banded together. It was so hard to get those parts clean. You read now to avoid rubber bands on silver care sites. Rubber is made with sulfur.

I was just going to ask about chalk as I saw that someplace last week. So I dropped a couple of pieces in with some silver things I just polished. It's pretty soft chalk, so would that work? In my inherited silver chest, everything is covered with a cloth to keep things from tarnishing. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have silver in the cloth. There are also strips of some type of papery stuff stuck in the chest. Nothing in there tarnishes.

Norar_il, are the pieces of paper black? Those would be Tarnish Prevention strips. The most prevalent brand (3M) is black. They are okay, but don't last for very long at all.

"Silver cloth" loses it's protective value over time.

Sealing them in plastic works well.

Rubber has sulfur in it.

Linnea, I don't know if colored chalk works as well as the white, but I think sidewalk chalk is much softer than some you get now for chalkboards. It sure leaves a lot more dust.

Yes, I wondered about that. Think I will go to the dollar store, and buy some cheap chalk, sidewalk and regular, and test it (somehow). Identical box, identical spoon, or something.

Don't put chalk in your silver!!! Chalk is not what it used to be....especially NOT sidewalk chalk.
A rubber band will eat through a silver spoon, the sulfur in the rubber is the culprit.
Display your silver candelabra....every 5 or 6 months wash it in a sink with International silver polish, hot water and a sponge. Just suds it all up with the silver polish and rinse and dry.
Why would you own it and store it away?
Silver cloth does work....and is available by the yard on the web....for not a lot of $$...if by chance you have more silver hollow ware than you care to display...;-)
Or you could send it to me and I'll polish it!

Linda is right...after I wrote the above and read her horror, I checked and sidewalk chalk is calcium sulfate which would NOT be good for preventing tarnish and might even cause more! But calcium carbonate is what ordinary blackboard chalk is comprised of and it has long been used to keep silver from tarnishing. If you are unsure of what kind of chalk you have, you can buy calcium carbonate supplements and use those.

If you decided to go the baggie route, be careful what kind you use -- and I cannot give you guidance on the right kind! A friend of mine decided to store her silver flatware in zipped plastic bags and the bags apparently actually bonded to the silver, ruining it. So I would check with a jewelry store or antique silver dealer to make sure you get the right kind.

However, I agree with the others. Display it and clean it twice a year. It's worth it.

I have a sterling candelabra that I use weekly. I had it professionally polished close to 2 years ago. When not in use I keep it wrapped in the plastic bag the silversmith put it in after polishing. Still looks beautiful.