How to clean your silver for the holidays!

margecat

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Can't believe Christmas is fast upon us! I thought you'd like a tip on how to clean silver(ware) easily. I do this all the time, and it works wonderfully.

Put the stopper in your kitchen sink, if you have one. I only have a strainer, and this works well. Cover the bottom of the sink entirely with tin foil. Sprinkle some salt and baking soda on the foil. Lay out your silver; it's best not to have it stuck together (example, no spoons resting inside of other spoons, etc.). Pour boiling water over the silver; add hot tap water to cover everything. Stir the silver and liquid around gently with the handle of a wooden spoon. Let it sit for a few minutes, or until the tarnish is mostly gone (I wouldn't let it sit TOO long, though. I let badly tarnished stuff sit for about 30-45 minutes). When done, remove (be careful if the water is still hot!), use a terry kitchen towel to buff off any remaining tarnish, wash with hot, soapy water, then buff dry. Fold up the foil and gunk, and discard. If you have a stainless steel sink, I swear it looks nicer after this, too!

It's best not to let your silver get too tarnished. Supposedly, storing it with a piece of chalk helps repel tarnish. I just tried this last night, so I don't know if it works.
 
EnzoLeya

EnzoLeya

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Do you ever use tarnish remover? I never heard of doing this, but I had to help clean all the silver last winter
Oh my word does the silver get dirty!!! It's beautiful when it's all done though!
 
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margecat

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I think I used some about 20 years ago, but wasn't impressed. Since then, I've used ammonia (make sure the window is open) or a paste of baking soda and water (almost as good as the sink method). I should really buy some Pacific cloth (anti-tanish fabric), and make bags for it. I don't have many utensils (most are silver-plated, and you have to be careful with that), but I do have a few bowls and some servingware (all cheaply gotten--nothing valuable! :-)).

I find that some brands of silver tarnish faster. Gorham is the best in terms of that.
 
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Rubbing with toothpaste and rinsing it off works really well too. I do that for my silver earrings when they get a bit tarnished. Also once polished my mom's whole set of silver punch bowl/cups like that, but I think your method would be faster!
 
calico2222

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My job for the holidays was to polish mom's silver tea set with a cloth, which unfortunately I let it get sold with my mom's silverware. I'm still kicking myself for that, but that worked the best to clean her silver tea set.

I have now inherited my grandmother's silver service, and really want to put it out for Christmas. I may try that salt and baking soda.

But, where can I find those cloths? They were great!!
 
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Originally Posted by MargeCat

Can't believe Christmas is fast upon us! I thought you'd like a tip on how to clean silver(ware) easily. I do this all the time, and it works wonderfully.

Put the stopper in your kitchen sink, if you have one. I only have a strainer, and this works well. Cover the bottom of the sink entirely with tin foil. Sprinkle some salt and baking soda on the foil. Lay out your silver; it's best not to have it stuck together (example, no spoons resting inside of other spoons, etc.). Pour boiling water over the silver; add hot tap water to cover everything. Stir the silver and liquid around gently with the handle of a wooden spoon. Let it sit for a few minutes, or until the tarnish is mostly gone (I wouldn't let it sit TOO long, though. I let badly tarnished stuff sit for about 30-45 minutes). When done, remove (be careful if the water is still hot!), use a terry kitchen towel to buff off any remaining tarnish, wash with hot, soapy water, then buff dry. Fold up the foil and gunk, and discard. If you have a stainless steel sink, I swear it looks nicer after this, too!

It's best not to let your silver get too tarnished. Supposedly, storing it with a piece of chalk helps repel tarnish. I just tried this last night, so I don't know if it works.
Click to expand...
I would just caution you not to do this very often. An engineer friend of mine told me that a lot of "silver" items are really just silver-plated and using this method of cleaning damages the plating which will require you to have the item(s) re-plated which is fairly expensive.

I tried the chalk trick with my silver jewellery and it didn't work.
 
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margecat

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

I would just caution you not to do this very often. An engineer friend of mine told me that a lot of "silver" items are really just silver-plated and using this method of cleaning damages the plating which will require you to have the item(s) re-plated which is fairly expensive.

I tried the chalk trick with my silver jewellery and it didn't work.
Click to expand...
Your're right--I should have said only sterling silver, not plated. I would not use this for plated items! Sterling silver should be marked either (sometimes both) "925" or "sterling". Anything else, to my knowledge, is NOT sterling silver.

Thanks!
 
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margecat

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Originally Posted by MargeCat

Can't believe Christmas is fast upon us! I thought you'd like a tip on how to clean silver(ware) easily. I do this all the time, and it works wonderfully.

Put the stopper in your kitchen sink, if you have one. I only have a strainer, and this works well. Cover the bottom of the sink entirely with tin foil. Sprinkle some salt and baking soda on the foil. Lay out your silver; it's best not to have it stuck together (example, no spoons resting inside of other spoons, etc.). Pour boiling water over the silver; add hot tap water to cover everything. Stir the silver and liquid around gently with the handle of a wooden spoon. Let it sit for a few minutes, or until the tarnish is mostly gone (I wouldn't let it sit TOO long, though. I let badly tarnished stuff sit for about 30-45 minutes). When done, remove (be careful if the water is still hot!), use a terry kitchen towel to buff off any remaining tarnish, wash with hot, soapy water, then buff dry. Fold up the foil and gunk, and discard. If you have a stainless steel sink, I swear it looks nicer after this, too!

It's best not to let your silver get too tarnished. Supposedly, storing it with a piece of chalk helps repel tarnish. I just tried this last night, so I don't know if it works.
Click to expand...
ADDENDUM: PLEASE DON'T USE ON PLATED ITEMS; ONLY USE FOR SOLID ("STERLING") SILVER ITEMS. THANKS!
 
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