I have heirloom silver items and I have been wanting to clean them up. I decided to try a bunch of cleaning silver hacks to see what would work best to clean it. I started with some silverware that I had to do the test runs.
A silver cleaner is great but has harsh chemicals I want to stay away from. I’m looking for the best way to clean my silver cutlery, sterling silver, and other silver pieces like silver jewelry. Check out the cleaning process
top 3 Cleaning Silver Hack winners!
1. Boiling silver hack method: (The easy method)
In a pot place a large piece of aluminum foil in the bottom, fill with 4 cups of water, and 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Bring to a boil.
Place your piece of silver in the hot water for 10-30 seconds and pull out with kitchen tongs. It’s pretty amazing to watch the chemical reaction tarnish literally disappear!
2. Baking Soda & Water Paste silver hack
Place 1/4 cup baking soda and 1-2 tablespoons of water into a bowl and make a thick paste.
Use a soft cloth to rub the mixture onto the sliver pieces. When finished cleaning, rinse off and wipe off with a clean cloth.
3. Toothpaste silver hack Method
For this use regular toothpaste (not gel). I used Crest no flavor regular toothpaste.
Put the small amount of toothpaste on a cloth and rub the piece of silver with the toothpaste. Rinse off when finished cleaning.
Honorable Mention Silver hacks:
These techniques worked but not quite as well as the above or took a little longer or more effort than I wanted.
4. Water & Ammonia silver hack
Place 1 cup of warm water in a small bowl. Add 1/2 c. Ammonia, stir, and place the silver in the larger container.
Let soak for 10 minutes. When finished use a microfiber cloth to wipe clean and rinse off. I found it didn’t completely come clean on the tarnished areas but it did make a difference.
5. Vinegar & Baking Soda silver hack
Place 1/2 cup of white vinegar in a glass bowl with 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Let soak for 2-3 hours.
Let soak for 2-3 hours, rinse and dry off with a regular cloth. I found that I needed to use a scrub pad and still scrub at it after it soaked. I was digging into the baking soda to do the scrubbing. So it worked but why not just use the baking soda technique from above…
6. Lemon Juice, Water, & Powdered Milk silver hack
In a dish place 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 1/2 cups cold water, and 1/2 cup instant powdered milk and mix. It literally turns sour and looks gross (just a heads up).
Let this soak overnight. The next day take a dry cloth and wipe clean. Once it’s clean rinse it with clean water. This method worked pretty well and surprised me. I just don’t know if I want to wait a whole day for everything to get cleaned.
What didn’t work???
- Soaking in lemon lime soda solution for 1 hour
- Cleaning with hand sanitizer – although if you’re looking to remove fingerprints and such this worked great for that and gave it a nice shine.
Special notes for Cleaning Silver Hacks
- To stop the tarnish from coming back with regards to small items and silverware – place in a ziploc baggie (or anti-tarnish bag) and squeeze as much air out as possible. It’s the air that causes the tarnish to come back.
- For Silver plated items, stay away from acid cleaners like vinegar and lemon juice as it could harm the plating.
Now I know how to clean silver at home and I won’t have to pull it out for special occasions only.
Here is my heirloom that has heavy tarnish that I’m going to clean up and turn into a lamp… coming soon
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If you want to find the worth of your silver, this post can help you with that.
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Does anyone clean silver or have silver anymore. I do so this was wonderful information. Found you on Blogger’s Pit Stop
So true Candy. I think many have stainless steel now, but I have some heirlooms that I clean 🙂
Hi, Chas! I enjoy your blog and wanted to share another silver cleaning tip. My Granny” shined up my little silver name bracelet for me back in the early 1950s. I thought she was magic! She put red lipstick on a soft cloth and as she rubbed, the cloth turned black with tarnish and my bracelet was left shiny and new looking. She told me that red lipstick was the key…the redder the better, but not to “get into” my mother’s lipstick without her permission! I have always kept a tube of red lipstick on hand for quick silver polishing.
Thank you for sharing Andrea and not only did it work like magic but what a wonderful memory to have 🙂
Interesting, so do you have one method you prefer that you’d recommend above the others or do you think it depends what the item is and how badly it’s tarnished?
Great question Julie! I really liked the toothpaste method. It worked well, was easy to use, is safe for silver plated items, and didn’t scratch.
The timing of your post is perfect. I just picked up a beautiful silver fruit dish from a thrift shop. I’m going to try the tooth paste method. Thanks for sharing on Sunday’s Best.
Thanks Rhonda and let me know how it goes – love that you got a great find at the thrift store!
Thanks for such a useful idea! I have heirlooms noone wants because they don’t want to polish them. Ha! Now it’s so easy I can continue to use them,at the same time avoiding re-tarnishing. can’t wait to read of your other magic tricks! Thanks again!
Thank you so much Ann and I’m glad you this post might help you.
I tried the aluminum foil method, it worked great however my neighbor wanted to help so she plunged a silver tray with a plastic handle on it, opps it ruined the plastic. Just an FYI
Hi Debra, I’m so glad this worked for you, and so sorry to hear about your friend’s tray. Thanks for sharing for others to see, and yes for silver that has plastic or other things on it one of the other methods might work better.