Almost everyone has silver – whether it’s in the form of jewelry or silverware. You have silver in your life. As you should. Silver is a beautiful metal that makes anything look high-class. The thing is, if you are buying real silver, you’re going to have to clean it eventually. After all, you want your silver to stay clean looking and have that nice shine that makes everyone’s eyes focus on it. If you have any heirlooms or jewelry that is silver, you will want to read this article to know how to clean silver easily.
How to Routinely Care for Your Silver
For a routine practice, you will want to quickly wash your silver in soapy water in order to keep your silver nice and shiny. You can mix a few droplets of mild dishwashing soap in warm water and then gently wash the silver pieces. Rinse the silver and buff it dry with a soft cloth. While in between cleanings, store your silver in a cool and dry place in order to prevent excess tarnishing.
Use a Natural Remedy to Clean Your silver
You can clean your tarnished silver with a DIY homemade recipe. You can use a combination of aluminum foil, baking soda, and salt in order to clean both your small and large silver piece. Here are the techniques you can use in order to clean tarnished silver. Grime no more!
What You’ll Need For This
- Boiling water
- Aluminum foil
- A pot or a pan
- Baking soda
- Salt – make sure it’s kosher!
- A soft cloth
How You Clean Small Silver Items
Let’s go through the stages of how to cleans mall silver items:
- Line either a pot or a roasting pan with aluminum foil. You want to make sure the foil covers the entire surface – it doesn’t matter what aluminum foil you use.
- Then, fill the pan with boiling water.
- Afterward, add ¼ cup of baking soda and two teaspoons of kosher salt to the water. Then stir. Soon, you should start to see bubbles form.
- Then, place your silver items in the solution and mix gently. This is so the pieces don’t bump into each other or the sides of the pan you have them in.
- Let the silver sit in the water for up to five minutes.
- Once it’s cool, remove from the water and dry the silver thoroughly with a soft cloth.
How to Clean Large Silver Items
The previous step is good for cleaning items like jewelry or forks/knives, but what if you have a larger silver item? How are you going to be able to clean them? Luckily, we have the solution, which you can see below:
- Instead of using a pan or a pot, use your sink to clean the larger items. This includes bulky trays, candlesticks, serving dishes, and more. First, you are going to line your sink with foil. Just as you did before, make sure you cover the entire surface, which includes the edges. Again, doesn’t matter what brand of aluminum foil you use.
- You then want to pour boiling water into the sink. You want to use enough water so that the pieces of silver are fully submerged into the water.
- Then place the pieces of silver in the water and let the pieces soak for anywhere up to thirty minutes.
- Remove the items of silver when it’s cool and dry it with a soft cloth.
Cleaning Your Silver With Vinegar
There are other ways to clean your silver and polish it. One way is to incorporate vinegar in the process. For cleaning silverware, this works best. Let’s go over the methodology of this:
- After you line your pan or sink with foil, you are going to add one tablespoon of baking soda and one tablespoon kosher salt.
- Then pour ½ cup of distilled white vinegar into the dish. Wait until the mixture begins to bubble.
- Add one to two cups of boiling water to your pan – however much is needed to submerge your silver items.
- Place the pieces in a single layer.
- Soak pieces that are lightly tarnished for about thirty seconds. For heavily tarnished pieces, soak for three minutes.
- Remove the silver with tongs and dry with a soft cloth and buff.
What Other Home Remedies Can Be Used to Clean Silver?
There are other methods that you can use to clean silver and most of the items can be found in your kitchen right now.
- Use ketchup. That’s right, the acid in ketchup can help polish tarnish off of metals, which include silver and brass.
- You can also remove water spots with lemon juice. By dipping a microfiber cloth in a little bit of concentrated lemon juice, you can use this cloth to polish your silver pieces and restore it to its former glory.
- Use toothpaste. Everyone has toothpaste. By diluting it with a little bit of water, you can polish the silver with a soft cloth. You don’t want to use toothpaste on any silver-plated items, as this can corrode the finish.
How to Clean Jewelry
When it comes to cleaning antiques or silver-plated items, such as necklaces, rings, etc., use cotton swabs with mild soap or even baby shampoo to gently wipe down your items. This is so you can get into the nooks and crannies, as well as not causing any flaking.
Now, if you have really old and nice antiques, consult with an antique dealer in order to find out the proper method. You don’t want to risk ruining anything.
Keep Your Silver Looking As Good as New
In this article, we’ve gone over several ways to clean your silver. You want you silver to last a long time and tarnished silver never looks good. By using these simple and easy methods, you can keep your silver looking shiny for years to come. Find most of the DIY items here in your fridge – or a quick trip to the supermarket. You’ll be thankful when you smile and can see yourself in the reflection of your silver.
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