Cleaning Silver with Aluminum Foil and Baking Soda

If you are anything like me, you probably hate messing with silver polish to remove tarnish from your silver candleholders or serving dishes. Not only is it time consuming, getting the polish out of crevices always drives me insane. That’s why I go the easy route and use baking soda and aluminum foil to restore my tarnished silver to its original luster.

You will need:

Aluminum foil
Baking soda
Basin
Saucepan Soft cloth

Line the bottom of a shallow basin with aluminum foil. The depth of the basin depends on the size of the object to be cleaned, as the baking soda and water solution must cover the object.

Place the piece of tarnished silver on the aluminum foil, as it must be touching the foil for the baking soda and water to work it’s magic.

Heat water to boiling in a saucepan. Move the pan to the sink and add ½ cup of baking soda for two quarts of water. Don’t worry if the baking soda and water solution foams up as this is a normal reaction – and the reason you add it over the sink.

Pour the solution into the aluminum lined pan until the tarnished silver is covered. This begins a chemical reaction. The blackened silver sulfide – what we refer to as tarnish – reacts with the aluminum while they are immersed in a solution of baking soda and water. In this chemical reaction, silver releases sulfur atoms and they are transferred to the aluminum, leaving your silver tarnish free.

Allow the silver to soak for a few minutes and check the progress. Lightly tarnished silver cleans within a few minutes, whereas heavily tarnished silver may require several applications to fully remove the tarnish.

Reheat the water and baking soda solution and reapply as necessary to completely clean your silver. Rinse the piece of silver under warm water and dry with a soft dry cloth.

Don’t worry that the aluminum foil is turning black, as this is the result of sulfur atoms bonding with the aluminum and will not affect your silver.

So the next time you discover ugly tarnish on your silver, skip the trip the store to buy silver polish. Do it yourself at home with ordinary baking soda and piece of aluminum foil and avoid the mess and fuss of polishing your silver to a shine.

Other work by this author:
Cornstarch: Natural Remedy for Common Household Problems
5 Ways to Clean and Freshen Your Kitchen Appliances with Vinegar
Green Cleaning: Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe


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