How to clean silver items at home: 7 different methods

Silver jewellery, idols and utensils tend to lose their luster and shine over time. This is tarnish – a result of a chemical reaction between silver and sulphur in the air. However, in order to keep your jewellery in its perfect silver state, you must clean it and regularly take care of it. Fortunately, cleaning silver doesn’t have to be tedious. With a few household items, such as salt and baking soda, you can easily remove tarnish from silver items.

Here are some simple and inexpensive ways to remove tarnish, polish and clean silver items. No matter which method you choose to clean your silver there is a good rule of thumb you can follow: If the piece of silver you are cleaning is valuable or an antique, then first do a spot test in an inconspicuous spot before treating the entire item…just to be safe.

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Here are some trusted home remedies that you can follow to clean silver and restore shine, have a look.

1. Baking soda and aluminum foil

This is one of the popular and easy ways to clean silver jewellery. Now, if your silver jewellery turns yellow or black you can reverse the effect by using this very simple method. You don’t need to buy any expensive product, you can do it with items you already have at home. In the toughest of tarnish situations this low cost and easy method will clean your jewellery within 30 seconds – 3 minutes (depending on the state of your silver).

First, bring the water to a boil. (Keep in mind that it should be enough water to reach the top of the bowl). Next, take your bowl/vessel and line it with aluminum foil, keeping the shiny side up. After that, add 1 tablespoon of baking soda with each cup of water into the bowl and the solution will bubble.

Now, instantly place the silver jewellery in the dish, ensure that the jewellery is touching the aluminum foil – this is an essential part of the process for the chemical reaction to occur. Leave in the solution for 2-5 minutes.

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In case, if the level of tarnishing is really bad then you can leave it in up to 10 minutes. At last, remove the jewellery safely; rinse under cool water and clean it with the dry cleaning cloth. That’s it! Be prepared to be amazed!

2. Lemon and Salt bath

This method is mostly used to clean the idols and puja utensils on a daily basis. To use this method you just need to squeeze a lemon into a bowl with 3 tablespoons of salt and hot water and placed the tarnished bracelet to rest in there for 5 minutes. Once done, remove and rub with a soft cloth. Doing so will help you to remove the tarnish.

Note: A white silver cleaning cloth can be helped in lifting the tarnish. With regular cloth, you need to put too much effort and does not bring perfect results.

3. Ketchup

You can also use Ketchup to clean silver items at home. You just need to squeeze a small amount of ketchup onto a paper towel and rub gently over the tarnished areas. In case, if your silver isn’t getting shinier, let the ketchup sit for 15 to 20 minutes, then rub with a soft cloth and rinse clean. If you are using this method for items that have textured details, such as candlesticks or fancy silverware, you can use a toothbrush to clean between the crevices.

4. Laundry detergent

Laundry detergent is also an old and popular remedy to remove tarnish. You just need to pour one small cup of detergent into a bowl of hot water and place the silver jewellery inside. Leave it for 5 to 7 minutes, remove and rub with a cloth. The laundry detergent reacts with the water creating a foamy substance. It will lift the darkness and cleans dirt or gunk from the jewellery – the best part, it smells great!

5. Toothpaste

Toothpaste is one of the easy DIY silver cleaning methods. Just take a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on a dish and rub onto the jewellery or silverware with circular motions to polish it and clean off the tarnish. Leave it for 5 minutes and then rinse off the toothpaste with water. After following this procedure, the silver item gets cleaned.

6. Vinegar

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Vinegar, water and baking soda together are a great option for many things including your tarnished silver. To use this method you just need to mix 1/2 cup of white vinegar with 2 tablespoons of baking soda in a bowl of lukewarm water. Let the silver soak for two to three hours. Next, rinse with cold water and let it dry.

7. Hand Sanitizer

With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, hand sanitizers are the most easily available item. However, hand sanitizer not only fights germs but also works a great technique for getting dirt, grime and tarnish off silver. Squeeze a few drops on a dry cloth and begin to polish the silver.

As long as silver is exposed to air and light, it will tarnish so to store silver and slow down the tarnish process. You can use your hair conditioner on your silver as a preventative layer or storing your silver in an anti-tarnish bag made from a tarnish-resistant silversmiths’ cloth or creating an easy DIY workaround.

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Source: https://gardencourte.com
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