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We all adore silver when it comes to jewelry or silver dinnerware as it adds a touch of elegance and beauty. However, it demands utmost care as it tends to lose its shine when it gets covered with tarnish. Interestingly, we have the perfect ingredients for how to clean the silver tarnish at home and bring them back to their original glory. Let’s take a look at them:
If your silverware or silver jewelry is slightly tarnished, it is nothing but the result of a chemical reaction between the hydrogen sulphide present in the air and the silver. As far as your silver jewelry is concerned, the culprit is our body sweat, perfume, and AMP; cosmetics that produce the amino acids along with sulphur causing the tarnish.
Take a bowl and cover the insides with an aluminum foil. Fill the bowl with hot water and add a tablespoon of any detergent powder and mix it. Dip your items in this water for 2-3 minutes and then wash them with lukewarm water.
While washing silverware, avoid using rubber gloves as it corrodes silver. You can either use a soft cloth, sponge, or your bare hands or clean them delicately. Avoid putting your silverware in the dishwasher, the strong temperature inside can cause damage to the luster of silver, clean them using your hands.
Suggested Read: How to Clean Gold Jewelry: 5 Easy & Efficient Ways to Clean Jewelry at Home
One of the effective ways to clean your silver jewelry is by scrubbing it with toothpaste by using an old toothbrush. Make sure to use white toothpaste which doesn’t have any other substance mixed in it.
For heavily tarnished silver cutlery, set the base of aluminium foil on the insides of a bowl, fill half the bowl with hot water and put 1 tablespoon of baking soda, salt & vinegar. Put your cutlery item in the bowl for 30 minutes and wipe it with a clean cloth.
Another way to retain the polish of your silverware or jewelry items, you can prepare a thick paste of cornflour with water and apply it to the particular item. Once it dries completely, scrub it with a clean cloth and the shine will be restored.
Experts also claim that tomato ketchup* also helps in removing tarnish from the silverware. The safe way to try this is – take a few drops of ketchup on a paper towel and rub gently on the silver item. Wash it with normal water later.
It may sound weird but the soft drink Coke is also considered effective in removing tarnish. Take a plastic container and fill three-fourths of it with Coke. Make sure you have opened a fresh bottle so that the fizz is maximum. Add your silver items in the container and leave it for 1 hour. Remove the items afterwards and clean it with a soft cotton cloth. For better results, use the fresh beverage bottle at room temperature, not chilled.
Bonus tip – You can keep the small silica gel packs in the box of your silver jewelry items to prevent it from getting tarnished. To minimize tarnish, you can keep your delicate jewelry wrapped in cotton or
soft linen and store it in a zipper pouch.
*We would personally suggest you not use ketchup on your jewelry. Proceed with caution and at your own risk.
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