Silver has such a lovely finish when it shines. Maintaining that beautiful appearance is easier than you might think. Today, let’s explore one of my favorite ways to keep it shining like new as we explore how to clean silver.
On my blog I cover all things cleaning and decluttering. You can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.
Struggling with the daily housekeeping chores? Check out my ebook on this topic, entitled Make Over Your Homemaking. Use this link to get it at a discounted price.
First of all, have you ever wondered what causes silver to tarnish? Also, have you ever considered how you might avoid this? Let’s explore how to clean silver using some ingredients you likely have in your home.
Silver can start to tarnish for several reasons. It can react with sulfur in the air. Sunlight and UV rays can also tarnish silver. Moisture and humidity can speed tarnish, as well.
To limit tarnishing, there are a few ways you can store your silver. First, silver should be stored in a cool, dry place. This is fairly easy to do with jewelry, but a little more challenging with silver serving pieces, such as silverware and the like.
I personally store my silver serving pieces in my kitchen cabinets, but this is likely not the best storage location because of the humidity caused by cooking. However, my serving pieces come in a storage case that limits tarnishing. Instead, it is recommended that you store these items in a dry, cool area if possible. If you seldom use them, like I do, this may not be a concern for you.
How to Clean Silver:
One of my favorite and easiest methods to clean silver is by using a silver polishing cloth. I like the ones made by Connoisseurs. You can find this at most major discount stores in the jewelry department. Mine has lasted for years.
The instructions are fairly simple. You will get the best results by polishing your silver jewelry according to the package instructions.
This particular brand of polishing cloth has two colors, a purple and a white, for two separate purposes. One is for removing dirt and tarnish, while the other is for buffing and shining.
After buffing and rubbing the silver in the cloth, you can see the difference the polishing cloth has made to improve the silver’s beauty and shine.
Another method for cleaning silver is by using using baking soda in an aluminum pan. This works well for large pieces such as serving dishes that can be very time-consuming to clean.
The mixture should reverse the chemical reaction that caused the silver to tarnish. To do so, place your tarnished silver in an aluminum pan. Sprinkle up to one cup of baking soda over the silver and then cover with warm water. Remove the items once your silver is clean. This method should cause the tarnish to transfer to the aluminum.
Here are some photos and my experience with this foil method. I am using a badly tarnished silver necklace for this experiment.
How to Clean Silver:
Supplies needed to clean Silver:
- aluminum foil
- baking soda
- salt
- bowl
- boiled water
Steps to Clean Silver
- Line your bowl with the foil.
2. Boil enough water to fill bowl
3. Add the baking soda and salt. The recommendation is to add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Then, place your silver piece in the bowl.
4. Next pour your boiling water over the mixture and allow to soak for 10 minutes.
5. When ten minutes are up, you should see a very yellow, dirty mixture.
My results: Before and After
As you can see in my BEFORE PHOTO below, the silver necklace was nearly black with tarnish.
In this AFTER PHOTO, you can see that most of the tarnish is gone.
For comparison, I placed the silver on my black countertop.
A few helpful tips for how to clean silver thoroughly
- Use the method mentioned above
- Use an old toothbrush to really scour the silver after it has soaked for the 10 minutes suggested
- Dip the toothbrush in the baking soda mixture and scrub all of the silver piece
- Rinse with liquid dish soap
Special tips: Never clean your silver serving pieces in the dishwasher. Doing so will ruin the finish. Also, never place silver jewelry in a liquid cleanser that is intended for gold jewelry. Instead, look for the liquid silver cleaning variety in your department store’s jewelry section.
I hope you have found this information beneficial and have a better understanding of how to clean silver. If you haven’t already, subscribe to my blog for more tips and tricks on cleaning and organizing everything in your home.
Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.
Need to deep clean? I have lists for you to guide you along.
My How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Kids’ Rooms list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Living Room list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Bedroom list can be found here.
Also, to keep up the general housework, you may need to create a daily housekeeping schedule that suits your specific needs. To do so, I have created a helpful series you can read here.
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The Year Long Thorough Declutter Series is designed to help you declutter every room and every space in your home. We declutter 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. It includes daily tasks, so you can track your progress. It also includes detailed lists to declutter each room and each space within your home. Subscribe below to receive your daily task. You can sign up here.
Struggling to decide if an item is clutter? Use these questions below to help you determine whether to keep or toss any item.
How do you remove clutter? Follow each room-by-room “declutter your home” checklist below
I have declutter checklists for every room and every space in your home to guide you along below. What is the best way to declutter? Follow my “Declutter Your Home” checklists to get you started.
Need “Declutter Your Home” checklists for each room? Read more below.
Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.
How to Declutter the Guest Room or Your Kid’s Room checklist can be found here.
Also, my How to Declutter Your Laundry Room and Patio checklist is found here.
My How to Declutter Your Coat Closet/Hall Closet/Linen Closet checklist can be found here.
Next, you can find my How to Declutter Your Home Office checklist here.
Find my How to Declutter Your Attic checklist by clicking here.
The How to Declutter Your Garage checklist can be found here.
My How to Declutter Your Living Room checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Kitchen Checklist can be found here.
The How to Declutter Your Entry/Foyer/Mudroom checklist can be found here.
My How to Declutter Your Clothing checklist can be found here.
Also, a How to Declutter Your Bedroom checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Bathroom checklist can be found here.
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New to deemiddleton.com and don’t know where to start? I recommend going in this order:
Step 1: Check out this post on the 1st step you should take to get organized. Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can sign up here.
Step 2: Create a daily Housekeeping Schedule. You can use this series to start to set up your own schedule. You can also use this simplified weekly schedule.If you often ask: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Or, if you struggle to get organized and have tried and failed time and again, you can likely find out which of these 11 reasons cause you to fail to get organized.
Step 3: How do you remove clutter?.…Sign up for the Declutter Series and get your entire home decluttered in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.”Declutter Your Home” checklists are provided in each email.
Step 4: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Use a timer and use the Deep Cleaning Checklists above. They will help you get your home sparkling after you’ve decluttered.
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Check out the most popular posts on deemiddleton.com:
14 Things That Make Your Home Look Cluttered
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Also, check out a great post on decluttering over here from becomingminimalist.com. Joshua Becker has some great tips on decluttering and minimalism.
For further reading, check out the fly lady here. She has some great cleaning and decluttering ideas plus excellent organization tips to get you started.
Happy Decluttering!
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