Ask a Pro – What are these black dots?

“Just about before every holiday we have a number of people come into the shop with a handful of silver flatware marked with black dots, asking us what happened,” Rick Biro says. “And what happened is that they put all of their silver and salt shaker away together.

Turns out salt is extremely corrosive to silver. First, black dots appear on the pieces. If left longer, those dots turn to green.

“So, take the salt out of the shaker before you store it away!” Rick says. “But, if you find those black or green dots on your flatware, bring it in and we can polish it out without a problem.”