I've done. This. If it's truly sterling you can wash your flatware in the dishwasher. If there is any gold ornamentation or it is silver plate, you'll have to hand wash. If you use them daily you shouldn't have a problem with tarnishing. Similarly, no need for a special tray unless you are concerned about denting them somehow.

Thanks for that info! Yes, it is sterling.

My grandmother used her wedding sterling daily for 66 years. When there was a dishwasher it went in. The pieces she used daily were kept in a regular drawer divider. Enjoy!

When I was a kid, we did. My mom just threw it in the DW, keeping it away from other metals.

Just make sure it's not plate. That will wear off.

Solid sterling will develop the beautiful patina old silver is mean to have!
Good for you.

I've used my sterling daily for 50 years now. For a time, I did put it in the dishwasher, but in our hard water area, a white film go on it and it was the devil to remove. I just quickly hand wash the silver and put it away - really doesn't take very long.

Yes, do buy a special silver cloth covered insert like this one <http://www.octobercompany.com/dining_room.htm>; It will keep your silver looking its best and make it easy to organize it by size/type. You can add a 3M tarnish strip to the insert or the drawer - they are great. Using your silver will keep it polished - I finally polish mine about ever 2-3 years but only if I'm using it for entertaining and want it to REALLY sparkle. Use it and enjoy it!

Can anyone suggest a site on line where I might buy antique sterling silverware? I bought a few pieces years ago at various antique shows. They are mismatched with names and initials. I'd like to add to my collection.

Just be aware that if you have sulfur in your water, it will turn black quickly! But, if you do have sulfur, you probably already know this since just the "fumes" will do the same!

Growing up, we had sulfur in our water and my mom had to store her sterling silver at her mom's home (next door). When we used it, we had to take it there to wash as well! (If we washed it at our house, it would have to be polished the next day as it would turn start turning black within a few hours.)

(You get used to the sulfur water smell/taste quickly - and it's very good for you and your circulatory system!)

Yes. We use sterling daily. My children use their toddler and youth sets daily as well. We love it! We use a regular drawer divider. We also put in the dishwasher. We do have some pieces on which the tines of forks or bowls of spoons tarnish quickly. I think it's from our food. We polish once or twice a year and that's it.

Now reading buehl's post, maybe we have sulfur in our air, although we don't smell it. Hmmmm....

Annz, there are tons of sites for antique silver, including eBay. Just Google Antique Sterling flatware and you'll find many. I've had very good luck with eBay. We inherited a set of sterling from my MIL and it was missing several forks and spoons. The help had dropped them down the garbage disposal and destroyed them. They were Gotham Strasbourg but were very old - old silver-plate blades on the knives, and they were the heaviest weight when Gotham sold 3 different weights of sterling flatware. I was able to replace them on eBay with ones that were identical. That was 15 years ago and I don't remember the seller, but I used a postage scale and weighed the pieces, but I sent him a photo of the markings on the back and he found what I needed. One can get great prices for these odd pieces and even for complete sets if one avoids the super-popular ones. A friend decided to buy a set for his wife for Mother's Day and knew I was knowledgable and asked my advice. I did some searching and found an old pattern that had been my mother's (DD now has it) called "Virginia Carvel" by Towle. It's been discontinued for at least 50 years and was never very popular as it was too similar to Gotham's "Fairfax" which is still very popular (I have it as does my son). It's lovely, very simple and a classic - nothing "dated" looking about it. He bought an 8 pc service for 8 for about $500! Fairfax would have been 3 times that much. Look at patterns on Replacements. I don't buy from them as they are VERY overpriced but they're a great place to see just about every pattern ever made.

Anglophilia, the high price of silver now means prices are much higher. It's true there's been a big decline in interest in flatware, but the value of the metal keeps the price up.

I have gotten pieces of my Community (now Onidea or however you spell that) on Replacements.com. They're not inexpensive, but I got new in the bag pieces. I also got some serving pieces, new in the bag, on eBay. There's a lot more I'd like to have, but recently I realized I never use it and settings for 12 are going to waste.

Oh - I forgot. I got an entire silver box of settings from a reuse center for $100.

Well, yeah, but look at the prices--$100 for a table fork, $60 for a spoon, etc.

I buy a lot of silver from Beverly Bremer, but they aren't inexpensive, either.

I assume your settings from the reuse center are plate, otherwise they could have made much, much more by just melting it down.

She said you can put it in a dishwasher or wash by hand, as long as there is no stainless in the sink or dw with the sterling. A chemical reaction will remove some of the sterling.... or something like that.

I assure you that you can wash silver in a stainless steel sink with no problems. We did for at least thirty years. In the DW you need to make sure that nothing stainless is touching the silver, that's all.

Sterling is forever. It can't "wear out" unless it is silver plate. Yes, even a boxed dinner tastes better if one uses sterling! Perhaps it's a southern thing - after the Civil War, people had no money but they still had their silver and china and they used it daily. It is the epitome of "genteel poverty", a style I have mastered over the years! I had to - my husband was a secondary school teacher and there was no trust fund!

This has been enlightening. My DW is stainless inside. So long as the sterling is contained in the basket, and not touching the interior wall, and not mixed with stainless flatware, am I safe? That will be the challenge. In my house. Keeping all the odd stainless steak knives and tools and such out, especially when we have "helpful" guests. Thanks.

I am in the middle of moving, so I can't post a picture. My sterling silver with stainless knife blades gets washed in the dish washer every single day. My silver is ancient- passed down through three generations of daily use (International Silver, Minuet pattern- discontinued in 1935 I believe.)

Well, years ago my first sterling was bought at an auction for $25 for the set. Then I got my DH's grandmothers and put that first set away -- it's a 30's pattern and I think I will get it out and use it everyday! Thanks for the info!

Do, Martha. It will be wonderful in your beautiful dining room, and there is just nothing like sterling. We always used sterling for dinner every day when I was growing up. (And to clarify my previous post from 2016 about washing silver in a stainless sink, I was referring to bowls and other serving pieces. The flatware went in the DW, always.)

Yes. An antiques dealer once tomd me the best way to get your kids to care about family heirlooms, art and furniture is to make them part of your everyday life. so thats what we do.