How to clean silverware with baking soda
Creativo
Who doesn't love the timeless elegance of silver? However, over time, this precious metal tends to tarnish and lose its shine. Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive resource you can use to restore the shine to silver: baking soda. Keep reading to find out how to do this:
Cleaning silverware with baking soda
What you'll need:
- A roll of aluminum foil
- Two tablespoons of baking soda
- Boiling water
- A baking tray or bowl, either in glass or ceramic
- A soft, dry cloth
How to proceed:
- Line the baking tray with aluminum foil, ensuring it has the shiny side up; do not flatten the foil - leave it a little crumpled up;
- Sprinkle the baking soda onto the aluminum. If you have a lot of silver to clean, increase the amount used;
- Pour enough boiling water into the tray to cover the all the silver you're cleaning - you should immediately see an effervescent reaction taking place (ie. bubbling);
- Leave to act for 5-10 minutes, checking to see if the tarnish is being dissolved away. If the silver pieces are very tarnished, this step may take longer;
- When you see the tarnish has disappeared, remove your silver from the tray and rinse off under running water;
- Use a soft cloth to dry.
It is important to remember the following:
- Cleaning silver in the above-described manner is not a permanent solution, of course. Silver will oxidize and tarnish again over time, so it's a good idea use silver polish products on them from time to time (if they are not to be used as cutlery);
- For the best results, make sure your silverware touches the aluminum foil during the above-described cleaning method.
Cleaning silver with baking soda and vinegar
Pxhere
When you feel that a slightly more "aggressive" cleaning method is needed, you can also use white vinegar (wine vinegar, or better still, alcohol vinegar): you will only need to add 120 ml of vinegar to the list of things you'll need, given above.
To add the vinegar, it's recommended you pour it into the tray directly after the boiling water, thereby making sure that the baking soda begins to effervesce as efficiently as possible when it's added. This is a more "mechanical" way of cleaning your silver, with the bubbles doing most of the "heavy lifting".
Are you ready to make your silverware shine again?
