Q&A for How to Clean Pewter

Try to use a soft detergent. You can use a detergent for metal to soak the pewter and remove stains. Rinse in warm water and dry with a soft cloth. For deeper scratches, you can try buffing with steel wool or a scrub pad. Be sure to move with the grain and be gentle while doing so. Also try polishing with a commercial polish or a made paste.

It's difficult and you should consider taking it to a professional. Broken pieces can be soldered on. Scratches can be buffed out by carefully using polish paste and steel wool. Heat damage is unlikely to be fixed.

Try bending it back by hand or with pliers. Pewter is a softer metal, so sometimes it is possible to force it back without resorting to more difficult and potentially dangerous measures.

No.The myth that there is lead in pewter is untrue. It has been forbidden for about 500 years by the Pewterers Guilds. If you are using a modern piece of pewter, it is quite safe. Even the article above regarding the pewter jewelry is misleading, as there is no way to test for lead in pewter jewelry, as most is silver plated or even gold plated. Nobody puts lead in pewter nowadays.

Naphtha (lighter fluid is almost pure naphtha if you don't want to buy a gallon at the hardware store). Put a scrap of paper towel on the pewter piece and soak it with naphtha (this slows evaporation) and then rub gently in one direction with a soft cloth (something you can discard afterward) or, if the pewter is not highly polished, paper towels will work fine. If you prefer a pleasant odor, the commercial product "Goo-Gone" works nearly as well, and has a nice orange-y scent.

Try to clean it first with soap and water. Afterwards, apply a polish or paste. Use the linseed and rottenstone paste if the pewter needs a lot of work. Steel wool may be necessary to restore satin pewter and should only be ever used on satin pewter.

Start off with soap and water to remove any grime. If you need more cleaning, use a pewter polish.

Start by washing the tankard out with soap and water. Move on to applying the vinegar-based paste above. The slight acid in the paste may allow you to buff out the stain.

Do it using the steps above. Start with soap and water. At the very least, this will remove a lot of the grime. Then move on to a polish.

Do it as you would any other pewter piece following the steps above. First you'll want to dust it and wash it with soap and water to remove grime. If it needs to be polished, use a soft cloth to wipe on a commercial polish or a made paste.

Toothpaste works great. The baking soda and toothpaste is what does the job for me.

Yes. First, wet sand the surface with 4000 grit sand paper until all pits are gone. (The pits themselves are only a few microns deep.) Be sure to sand in one direction only. Then, if you want a shiny finish, use 6000 grit sandpaper, sanding at right angles to the previous sanding. The 6000 grit paper makes scratches that are smaller than the width of a light particle (hence they are invisible).

It can be if it contains lead, is harmful to wear. It might be a good idea to take your piece to a jewelry store and have it tested to see if it has lead, or any other harmful substances in it. If it does not have anything harmful in it, feel free to wear it!

Soap and warm water is your best bet in order to avoid damaging your jewelry. You can also use a pewter polish in small, limited amounts.

Tarn-X will be too strong for pewter. It is designed for silver, according to the label, and you should avoid using silver cleaners. Instead, buy a specialty pewter polish or make the paste, which will be cheaper too.

Lemon Juice 20% and Water, Submerge for 5 to 10 minutes. Brush with nail brush and then polish.

It's not recommended. Pewter is soft and susceptible to acid damage. Lemon and other citruses are very acidic. For comparison, soda is known to wear away at pewter cups, but lemon juice is even more acidic than soda.

No. Do not wash pewter in the dishwasher. Instead, hand wash with liquid detergent and dry with soft towel or microfiber cloth.