Satin silver finish

[Hank74]

Recently, I have seen so many sousaphones which have what is called the "satin" silver finish, instead of the shiny silver on most sousas. Ohio State and Georgia have these kinds of sousas, which looks great in a marching setting.

My thinking for there being a satin silver finish now has to do with all the glare that can happen with a regular shiny sousa, be it silver or brass.

I do have a question though for anyone who has had experience with satin silver. How do you keep up polishing it. I think this was brought up some time ago, but I wanted to ask again. Do you use "Silvo" or something else. How does a satin horn compare to a shiny one?

Hank74

[Dan Schultz]

Satin silver is not to be 'polished'. You can only clean it. Satin silver is the same as bright silver except the silver is applied over a rough 'sandblast' sort of base. Abrasive polishes should not be used on satin silver finishes. There are some 'witches brews' that can be used to clean satin silver. Maybe someone can elaborate further.

[Chuck(G)]

Some folks clean satin silver with Windex (Tarn-X might work for heavy tarnish). I've also heard that whiting and alcohol (as a paste) works pretty well.

Modern satin wilver finishes are not your grandpappy's version, however. In the old days, the silver would go on pretty thick instead of the 10 microns or so used today.

Downside of satin, aside from the polishing issue, is that a scratch is all but impossible to cover up or buff out.

[Matt Walters]

To clean (not polish) satin silver, use Wright's Silver Cream. Wet the horn. Scrub the horn with the paste and the included sponge. Wash the horn off with liquid soap and water. It's clean and shiny with no scratch marks that some polishes leave. I get it it at Ace Hardware.