Clean your silver at home tricks/hacks
I have used these and love them...
1 Water and Corn flour
With time If your silver has lost its shine this recipe will help you restore it. Prepare a thick paste of water corn flour and apply it onto the silver item. Let the mixture dry completely and rub it off with a towel to polish the surface and restore the shine of your jewelry and silverware. If you are out of corn flour you can substitute it with cream of tartar.
2 Ketchup
It is weird, but ketchup works great if you need to remove tarnish from silver. This method is good handy if you have only 1-2 silver items to clean. Squeeze a few drops of ketchup on a paper towel and gently rub the tarnished silverware or jewelry. If there is old, tarnish built up apply ketchup directly onto these areas and leave it for 15 minutes. After that rub with microfiber cloth and rinse with water. Some items like fancy candlesticks or silverware have more details. Use a soft toothbrush to reach between crevices and clean the tarnish.
3. Aluminum Foil + Baking Soda
This is one of the best recipes in our silver cleaning arsenal. The aluminum-soda bath is very useful when you need to clean more than one thing or bigger items – such as silver cutlery, candlesticks, or tableware. Cover the bottom of a large baking pan with aluminum foil, with the shiny side up. Use ceramic, or glass bakeware never metal one, to avoid unwanted chemical reactions. Fill with water and add baking soda. You need 1,5 tablespoons of soda for every gallon of water. Bring to boil and put the tarnished silver inside for 15 seconds. Take out the silver using kitchen tongs. Leave the silverware on paper towel to cool down. All tarnish is gone. For built up, stubborn tarnish you may have to repeat the procedure. Never use this recipe for jewelry with encrusted gemstones.
4. Aluminum Foil + Laundry detergent
This cleaning trick is appropriate for slightly tarnished silverware or silver jewelry. Line a bowl with aluminum foil and fill with hot water. Add a tablespoon of liquid laundry detergent and stir well. Drop your silver items inside and let them soak for a minute. Take the silver out with kitchen tongs, rinse with lukewarm water and lay on a paper towel to let the items dry.
5. Toothpaste
This is a classic, easy DIY silver cleaning recipe. Use non-gel and non-abrasive toothpaste. Squeeze a small amount of it on a soft cloth or paper handkerchief. Rub onto the jewelry or silverware with circular motions to polish it and clean off the tarnish. Leave it for 5 minutes and then rinse off the toothpaste with water. After this procedure the silver is clean and shiny as new.
