What Are The Best Methods To Clean Silver At Home? Here Are 7 Different Ways That You Can Do It

 

It is natural for silver items to tarnish over time, no matter how well you take care of them. Here is a list of seven different methods for cleaning silver items at home.

Over time, silver jewellery, idols, and utensils tend to lose their shine and luster. Tarnish is caused by a chemical reaction between silver and sulfur dioxide in the air. It is important, however, to regularly clean silver jewelry and take care of it in order to keep it in its perfect silver state. Silver cleaning doesn’t need to be complicated. Silver items can be easily cleaned with a few household items like salt and baking soda.

The following methods are simple and inexpensive for removing tarnish, polishing, and cleaning silver items. You can follow a good rule of thumb when cleaning your silver regardless of how you do it: If the silver is valuable or antique, you should first do a spot test in an inconspicuous area before treating it.

Check Out These Trusted Home Remedies For Cleaning And Restoring Silver’s Shine.

1.       Aluminum Foil And Baking Soda

Using this method, you can reverse the yellowing or blacking of silver jewellery. It’s one of the most popular and easy ways to clean silver jewelry. In the toughest of tarnish situations, this easy and low cost method will clean your jewelry within 30 seconds – 3 minutes (depending on the state of your silver). It doesn’t require any expensive products and you can do it with items you already have.

Firstly, boil the water. (You should be able to reach the top of the bowl with enough water.) Next, line your bowl or vessel with aluminum foil, the shiny side up. Afterward, add a teaspoon of baking soda to each cup of water and the solution should bubble up.

Put the silver jewelry in the dish immediately, ensuring that the silver jewelry is touching the aluminum foil – this is an essential step for the chemical reaction to occur. Let it sit for 2-5 minutes.

Lastly, remove the jewellery properly; rinse it under cool water and clean it with the dry cleaning cloth. That’s it! Be prepared to be amazed! If there is a lot of tarnishing, you can leave it in for up to 10 minutes.

2.       Salt And Lemon Bath

It is most commonly used to clean idols and bid utensils on a daily basis using this method. Place the tarnished bracelet in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of salt and hot water, squeeze a lemon, and then rub it with a soft cloth for 5 minutes. This will remove the tarnish from the bracelet.

It is recommended that you use a white silver cleaning cloth to lift the tarnish. A regular cloth takes much time and effort and does not produce the best results.

3.       Ketchup

Ketchup can also be used to clean silver items at home. Simply apply ketchup to a paper towel and rub gently over tarnished areas. In case, your silver isn’t getting shinier, let the ketchup sit for 15 to 20 minutes, then rub with a soft cloth and rinse. To clean between the crevices of items with textured details, such as candlesticks or fancy silverware, you can use a toothbrush.

4.       Laundry detergent

The old and popular remedy for removing tarnish is laundry detergent. Pour a small amount of detergent into a bowl of hot water and immerse the silver jewellery in the solution. After five to seven minutes, remove the jewelry and rub it with a cloth. The laundry detergent reacts with the water and creates a foamy substance that lifts the darkness and cleans the jewellery – the best part is, it smells great too!

5.       Toothpaste

It’s easy to clean silver with toothpaste. You just need a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on a dish and rub it on the jewellery or silverware in circular motions to polish it. When the silver item has been cleaned, rinse it off with water after leaving it for five minutes.

6.       Vinegar

For many things, including tarnished silver, vinegar, water, and baking soda are a great combination. In this method, you mix 1/2 cup white vinegar with 2 tablespoons of baking soda in lukewarm water and soak the silver in it for two to three hours, then rinse it with cold water and let it dry.

7.       Hand Sanitizer

The hand sanitizer is the most easily available item due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. In addition to fighting germs, hand sanitizer also works well for removing dirt, grime and tarnish from silver. You can polish the silver by squeezing a few drops on a dry cloth.

It is important to store silver so that it does not tarnish as long as it is exposed to air and light. You can use hair conditioner on your silver as a preventative layer or store it in an anti-tarnish bag made from a tarnish-resistant silversmiths’ cloth or create a DIY solution.