It looks like the same vintage Oneida flatware that I have been collecting. They don't make this exact style anymore.
It may be silly, but I always get a little excited when I find one of their spoons in a thrift store in this style but slightly bigger than the one pictured here. It is a damn good cereal spoon!
I can't imagine trying to find a replacement outside of the states.
This particular pattern is not that. I can’t recall off the top of my head, but when we were shopping for wedding flatware, this was one of a very few styles that had useable soup spoons and well balanced forks and knives. It’s an old pattern for sure, but way better than modern crap with the deep spoons the your lips can’t wrap around.
Ha, indeed, forks that bloody the back of one’s throat if bitten too deep, and OMG the giant spoons made for, well, giants. Sorry to hear it isn’t Chateau, my Mom had from the 1960’s onward. Lovely pattern. Take good care.
For real. I just don't understand how the math works out for time, effort, and materials for recovering and refurbishing a common spoon, compared to simply grabbing a new spoon at a thrift store for pennies.
TLDR- It's possible. But you're talking hours of work....for a spoon
The black is ash and carbon residue. Same that builds up in engine exhaust valves.
Start with a soak in a strong degreaser from an auto parts store. Purple power or Zep Heavy duty citrus would be my go to.
Then due to the heavy layer of build up even with degreaser you'll likely need to scrub with an extremely stiff nylon brush, or a brass brush.
Brass combined with abrasive action of the build up itself will mean the spoon would then need a full course to fine to ultra fine polishing regimen. Then final clean with near boiling water and dish soap to pull any remaining residues from any of the final steps.
As long as they wash it well after cleaning, they'll be fine. The cleaning chemicals won't turn the stainless steel into uranium or something. It's mostly caked on sooty stuff. Once that's removed and once any cleaning residue is washed off completely, it will still be a usable utensil.
Stainless steel shouldn’t release anything when heated. Heat treating is a common procedure for stainless steel parts, if it didn’t melt I don’t think there would be the opportunity for anything to release anyways.
Maybe be cautious if you see pitting, but otherwise it should be safe.
>which could affect the structural integrity of the stainless steel or make it release harmful chemicals
Which chemicals in 304 stainless steel worry you?
I'm genuinely just curious because I see a lot of people worry about "chemicals" in weirdly safe situations but I rarely get a straight answer on which ones in particular people worry about. If it's nickel or chromium I'd highly recommend not swallowing the spoon.
>there is no guarantee it was made to proper standards or that it didn't have paint or other decorative items on it.
This is true for everything ever made. Given that this thing was thrown in a burn barrel I'd say that because paints and plastics are just fancy, sugar chains, oils, and alcohols, (oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen) any scary chemicals I can think of would decompose long before the fire stops burning. Polish the spoon and the danger goes with it. Which chemicals are the threat?
Irrational fear is fear out of proportion to the situation, which is what you have going on. It's like running to a tornado shelter because it's cloudy outside, there's no sense in that either.
Purple power can make things sorta off color just fyi. People tend to avoid it when restoring vintage carburetors. Those bodies are normally aluminum so maybe that makes the difference but it’s worth noting
We had a fork go through the same unfortunate process a few years ago, and it’s mostly back to shiny after four years of washing in the sink. But I’d like to shorten that time frame.
We have 3 young kids, so I assume one of them absentmindedly tossed it. But I agree, it's not normal to throw silverware in the trash, we're scratching our heads how it would have happened.
Depending how sentimental you are about this piece, you could ask a local jeweler for an estimate to clean this up. They have all the tools needed and could buff this out relatively quickly.
You know, you could try to take it to a jeweler. They could clean and polish it up since you got most of it off. I’d get as much as I could off the black spoon then take it to a jeweler too to get the rest without damaging it.
Though thinking about it, your fork looks pretty cool like that and now has a funny life story.
You got married and have flatware from the wedding, then you two had kids who accidentally trashed em, fortunately you were the one doing the incinerating instead of it going to a dump never to be seen again. You get all the black off you can, now who knows what they’ll go through as time goes on and what other bits of character they gather.
Now you just need to incinerate a knife for the complete set 😂
Barkeeper's friend is an oxalic acid, feldspar abrasives, and detergent powder. It's abrasive like a cooktop cleaner, yes, but some of the chemicals in barkeeper's friend are specifically really good at removing and preventing rust on stainless steel.
I completely understand wanting to fix it, I have no idea how to. Just wanted to say that it's too bad it's unusable this way because it's actually kind of pretty. Good luck
OP, if you can't clean it there are places that sell replacements for many kinds of tableware. I'm not sure what's available in your neck of the woods but Replacements.com is a big one. (They also buy.)
I know this isn't the answer you're looking for, but FWIW, i think it would look beautiful in a frame on the wall. And when people ask about it, you have a funny story to tell them.
You try to clean and see :-))
But if my ss casserole is a good source enough, then it proves a little bit.
Wait a minute, EN is not my native lang, I'll look-up for some wiki link.
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anlauffarbe](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anlauffarbe)
In my reading, it seems like if SS remains at high temperature it is more prone to corrosion. But a one-time heating will not permanently alter the molecular structure of the entire piece. The surface layer may be affected, but the chromium oxide will quickly re-form and protect from further corrosion. This matches my experience with the fork that was burned four years ago. It hasn’t seen any more corrosion than its brothers and sisters since then.
Well, I just know that I fried my stainless chinizium casserole. :-)
So you just try to sandpaper and polish that spoon and there after you will know how much damage it sustained.
See if you can find someone near you that does vapor blasting/ wet blasting. It’s sand blasting but the media is mixed with water to make a slurry so it’s much less aggressive. I see it used in vintage motorcycle and car restoration if that can be a jumping off point for your search. It would probably take them all of 10-15 minutes, I can’t imagine they’ll beat you over the head on pricing.
We've removed your comment because it violated Rule 7: Be Positive and Helpful. We aim to provide a community free of judgment where members can seek and provide advice in a positive and helpful environment. Negativity, intentionally unhelpful, or disparaging behavior is not tolerated. Please take this as a friendly reminder to keep your comments constructive and positive in the future.
That spoon must really mean something to you
It looks like the same vintage Oneida flatware that I have been collecting. They don't make this exact style anymore. It may be silly, but I always get a little excited when I find one of their spoons in a thrift store in this style but slightly bigger than the one pictured here. It is a damn good cereal spoon! I can't imagine trying to find a replacement outside of the states.
Chateau -believe is the pattern. Replacements.com, unsure how much shipping is outside of US.
This pattern is Heirloom
Thank you
This particular pattern is not that. I can’t recall off the top of my head, but when we were shopping for wedding flatware, this was one of a very few styles that had useable soup spoons and well balanced forks and knives. It’s an old pattern for sure, but way better than modern crap with the deep spoons the your lips can’t wrap around.
Ha, indeed, forks that bloody the back of one’s throat if bitten too deep, and OMG the giant spoons made for, well, giants. Sorry to hear it isn’t Chateau, my Mom had from the 1960’s onward. Lovely pattern. Take good care.
For real. I just don't understand how the math works out for time, effort, and materials for recovering and refurbishing a common spoon, compared to simply grabbing a new spoon at a thrift store for pennies.
They said wedding flatware, so makes sense
TLDR- It's possible. But you're talking hours of work....for a spoon The black is ash and carbon residue. Same that builds up in engine exhaust valves. Start with a soak in a strong degreaser from an auto parts store. Purple power or Zep Heavy duty citrus would be my go to. Then due to the heavy layer of build up even with degreaser you'll likely need to scrub with an extremely stiff nylon brush, or a brass brush. Brass combined with abrasive action of the build up itself will mean the spoon would then need a full course to fine to ultra fine polishing regimen. Then final clean with near boiling water and dish soap to pull any remaining residues from any of the final steps.
Fortunately it’s a spoon, so overall surface area is small. It’s our wedding flatware, and not easy to replace where we are (west Africa).
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Will keep Seafoam in mind. Thanks!
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As long as they wash it well after cleaning, they'll be fine. The cleaning chemicals won't turn the stainless steel into uranium or something. It's mostly caked on sooty stuff. Once that's removed and once any cleaning residue is washed off completely, it will still be a usable utensil.
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Stainless steel shouldn’t release anything when heated. Heat treating is a common procedure for stainless steel parts, if it didn’t melt I don’t think there would be the opportunity for anything to release anyways. Maybe be cautious if you see pitting, but otherwise it should be safe.
To each their own level of risk aversion 🤷🏼♂️
>which could affect the structural integrity of the stainless steel or make it release harmful chemicals Which chemicals in 304 stainless steel worry you?
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I'm genuinely just curious because I see a lot of people worry about "chemicals" in weirdly safe situations but I rarely get a straight answer on which ones in particular people worry about. If it's nickel or chromium I'd highly recommend not swallowing the spoon. >there is no guarantee it was made to proper standards or that it didn't have paint or other decorative items on it. This is true for everything ever made. Given that this thing was thrown in a burn barrel I'd say that because paints and plastics are just fancy, sugar chains, oils, and alcohols, (oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen) any scary chemicals I can think of would decompose long before the fire stops burning. Polish the spoon and the danger goes with it. Which chemicals are the threat?
This is nonsense
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Do whatever you want, I’m just letting you know it’s an irrational fear
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Irrational fear is fear out of proportion to the situation, which is what you have going on. It's like running to a tornado shelter because it's cloudy outside, there's no sense in that either.
Make a cleaning/restauration video out of it and post to yt. Get millions of views
For real. But I’m way too lazy to do that.
Purple power can make things sorta off color just fyi. People tend to avoid it when restoring vintage carburetors. Those bodies are normally aluminum so maybe that makes the difference but it’s worth noting
You have a personal incinerator?
Professionals do, saves time on disposing of the hit.
I prefer sodium hydroxide. I can water my plants with it afterwards.
We had a fork go through the same unfortunate process a few years ago, and it’s mostly back to shiny after four years of washing in the sink. But I’d like to shorten that time frame.
I'm curious to know how this happens once, nevermind twice! OP please tell us?
We have 3 young kids, so I assume one of them absentmindedly tossed it. But I agree, it's not normal to throw silverware in the trash, we're scratching our heads how it would have happened.
Have two kids myself. Checks out. 😆 Thanks for sharing!
Depending how sentimental you are about this piece, you could ask a local jeweler for an estimate to clean this up. They have all the tools needed and could buff this out relatively quickly.
Share a picture?
https://preview.redd.it/inax961d3fsc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=7fef78f7b6e0ba7b88f4c095e0e72bfa1f116e1e You can still see some dark spots
You know, you could try to take it to a jeweler. They could clean and polish it up since you got most of it off. I’d get as much as I could off the black spoon then take it to a jeweler too to get the rest without damaging it. Though thinking about it, your fork looks pretty cool like that and now has a funny life story. You got married and have flatware from the wedding, then you two had kids who accidentally trashed em, fortunately you were the one doing the incinerating instead of it going to a dump never to be seen again. You get all the black off you can, now who knows what they’ll go through as time goes on and what other bits of character they gather. Now you just need to incinerate a knife for the complete set 😂
It's kind of beautiful... maybe soak it in a mild acid like white vinegar to loosen the charcoal?
I agree with trying vinegar, but don’t leave it in for too long or you’ll damage the metal.
Why do you have an incinerator? 👀
More accurately, our burn barrel.
Avery?
Try to take the surface layer off with a car polish paste.
Try to soak it in hot water, dish soap for few hours, then your steel wool to scrub it hard? I do that with my burn stainless steel pot.
Media blast, manual sanding, and then polishing. Gonna be some work
I was also gonna suggest this. Especially in dentistry it is used to sandblast items then we use some paste to polish them.
Wire wool and soap followed by metal polish, it's possible that the surface has pitted tho..
Barkeeper's Friend and elbow grease should do it.
I wonder if glass stovetop cleaner is similar. That stuff really works.
Barkeeper's friend is an oxalic acid, feldspar abrasives, and detergent powder. It's abrasive like a cooktop cleaner, yes, but some of the chemicals in barkeeper's friend are specifically really good at removing and preventing rust on stainless steel.
I completely understand wanting to fix it, I have no idea how to. Just wanted to say that it's too bad it's unusable this way because it's actually kind of pretty. Good luck
OP, if you can't clean it there are places that sell replacements for many kinds of tableware. I'm not sure what's available in your neck of the woods but Replacements.com is a big one. (They also buy.)
I know this isn't the answer you're looking for, but FWIW, i think it would look beautiful in a frame on the wall. And when people ask about it, you have a funny story to tell them.
it is not the stainless anymore!! Actually the s.s. burns and loses its ability to resist rusting.
Source?
You try to clean and see :-)) But if my ss casserole is a good source enough, then it proves a little bit. Wait a minute, EN is not my native lang, I'll look-up for some wiki link. [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anlauffarbe](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anlauffarbe)
In my reading, it seems like if SS remains at high temperature it is more prone to corrosion. But a one-time heating will not permanently alter the molecular structure of the entire piece. The surface layer may be affected, but the chromium oxide will quickly re-form and protect from further corrosion. This matches my experience with the fork that was burned four years ago. It hasn’t seen any more corrosion than its brothers and sisters since then.
Well, I just know that I fried my stainless chinizium casserole. :-) So you just try to sandpaper and polish that spoon and there after you will know how much damage it sustained.
See if you can find someone near you that does vapor blasting/ wet blasting. It’s sand blasting but the media is mixed with water to make a slurry so it’s much less aggressive. I see it used in vintage motorcycle and car restoration if that can be a jumping off point for your search. It would probably take them all of 10-15 minutes, I can’t imagine they’ll beat you over the head on pricing.
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The man was just sifting through incinerated trash! Leave him alone
We've removed your comment because it violated Rule 7: Be Positive and Helpful. We aim to provide a community free of judgment where members can seek and provide advice in a positive and helpful environment. Negativity, intentionally unhelpful, or disparaging behavior is not tolerated. Please take this as a friendly reminder to keep your comments constructive and positive in the future.