Looking to polish up that old silverware? Try this great (tried and trusted) tip from the folks at greenopedia.com
Reversing Silver Tarnish
Instead of removing silver along with the tarnish, you can simply reverse the tarnish with baking soda, water and aluminum foil. Here’s how it happens…
Aluminum foil is immersed in a mix of baking soda and water. When the silver touches the baking soda and aluminum, a natural reaction happens… a very cool and completely safe natural reaction that transfers the tarnish — and only the tarnish — from the silver to the aluminum foil.
The silver molecules remain completely intact, so your jewellery and fine dining pieces do not degrade over time.
How To Polish Silver Naturally
- Line a glass baking pan with aluminum foil and lay it in the kitchen sink to avoid spills.
- Line the pan with flatware, jewellery, coins or other silver, ensuring that each piece of silver physically touches the aluminum.
- For small pans, add four cups of boiling water followed by a quarter cup of baking soda. You can double or triple the recipe, as needed, to ensure the silver is completely covered with water.
- Once the mixture is added to the pan, it will begin to foam. This is normal and safe.
- The tarnish will rapidly begin to disappear and you may see the resulting aluminum sulphide form yellow flakes and stick to the foil.
- Lightly tarnished silver will be restored in several minutes, while heavily tarnished silver may require a few treatments.
- Once the silver is clean, remove it from the pan, rinse it with clean water and dry with a soft cloth.
- Rinse the used baking soda down the drain and put the foil in the recycle bin.
Good To Know
It is advised to only use this cleaning method on plain silver that does not have any stones, gems, glue or resin.