Hacks for how to clean silver at home?
I was recently gifted a family heirloom from an aunt of mine. It’s this really old sterling silver necklace and it’s cute, but it’s kind of dingey. I want to clean it but I’m really anxious about potentially ruining it—my aunt went on forever about how important it is to the family. Any tips here? I am positive it’s 100% sterling silver, if that helps.
Start by making a paste with baking soda and hot water. Maintain a 3:1 proportion of baking soda to water. So, for example, you’d mix 9 ounces of baking soda with 3 ounces of water. Rub the paste onto the silver using a microfiber cloth. Then, you can use a toothbrush to scrub any difficult-to-reach grooves, nooks, or crannies. Rinse thoroughly with cold water and wipe the item dry with a microfiber cloth for some extra shine.
Try lining a baking dish with aluminum foil and fill it with boiling water and a tablespoon of salt. If you set your silver in the water and move it around with tongs, a chemical reaction occurs helps remove the tarnish from the surface.
If it’s 100% silver and it’s really dirty, you can use CLR (calcium, lime, and rust cleaner) to get a really clean shine. There’s a product called Tarn-X as well, which works very nicely. Since you mention it’s an heirloom though, I’d make sure to wash the item off thoroughly with cold water after you use either of these products—just to be safe.
It’s probably just tarnish. Sterling silver and silver jewelry tends to tarnish over time if they aren’t regularly cleaned and stored correctly. I’d recommend not making this complicated. Just buy an anti-tarnish spray or cleaning product online and follow the directions. There are probably all kinds of hacks and tricks out there, but there are so many reputable products for this that I don’t think it’s necessary to mess around with any novel solutions.
Just use a silver jewelry cleaning cloth. It will remove the tarnish without damaging your necklace.
Any toothpaste that lists baking soda as a main ingredient is going to work in a pinch. Just squirt a little bit of the toothpaste on the item and scrub it gently with an old toothbrush. Rinse the silver under water while continuing to scrub it until you get the shine you’re looking for.
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Reader Tips from How to Clean Silver
Store your silver properly. To prevent tarnish, store silver in a cool, dry place, and consider using anti-tarnish strips or cloths.
Handle with care: silver is soft and can easily scratch or dent, so be gentle, especially when cleaning or storing it.
For deeply tarnished items, consider a commercial silver dip. Use sparingly, as it's harsher than manual cleaning.
Reader Tips from How to Clean Sterling Silver Jewelry
Avoid harsh chemicals. Never ever clean silver with bleach or harsh chemicals as they can damage the surface.
Limit your silver's exposure to water, especially chlorinated or salty water, which accelerates tarnishing.
Reader Tips from A Guide to Cleaning Silver with Baking Soda
Certain things like wood, rubber, paints, fruit or eggs, wool, or felt can make your silver tarnish more quickly so try to avoid letting your silver come into contact with these things.
To prevent tarnish, wrap your silver in cloth and store your silver in an air-tight plastic bag between uses.
