What to add to water to restore shine to tarnished silver

What to add to water to restore shine to tarnished silver

Beautiful silver things should not be bored on the back shelf, whether they are earrings inherited from your grandmother or a teaspoon given by a friend for the baptism of your daughter. Therefore, today we will tell you what to add to water to restore the shine to tarnished silver.

Giving a second life to this mirror-white precious metal may seem like a daunting task. However, it’s quite simple to manage: you don’t even need to buy an expensive cleaning kit. All you need are the ingredients you can find in your kitchen – we’ll tell you how to restore the shine to tarnished silver jewelry!

Method #1: Using Baking Soda to Restore the Shine of Silver

There are different products to clean your silverware and restore its shine, but we will start with the one that requires the most common products. You will need:

  • Aluminium foil,
  • baking soda,
  • salt.

First step: wash!

Wash your silver jewelry with mild soap and lukewarm water and dry it immediately with a cotton cloth. If you’re tidying up the dishes, don’t use the dishwasher to do it. “High temperatures and detergents can damage metal,” says Pete He, chief scientist at the laboratory that develops household chemicals.

Step Two: Fold

Place your silver items in a pan or bowl (don’t use stainless steel, glass is best) covered with foil (shiny side up). Make sure that each product is in contact with the film (do not throw the chain into a messy “slide”, but straighten it) – a little later we will tell you why this is important.

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Third step: prepare the solution

In a second saucepan, bring a quart of water to a boil, add a quarter cup of baking soda and a few teaspoons of salt.

Step four: fill with money

What to add to water to restore shine to tarnished silver

Pour the solution into a saucepan with silver, cover with a lid – after that a chemical reaction will begin that will remove the blackness. Aluminum foil is necessary for this process because the aluminum extracts the sulfur atoms from the metal. Wait five minutes.

Step Five: Rinse and Dry

Remove silver jewelry – you can use tongs or a fork to do this. Rinse them with clean water and dry them. Done – now they look like new!

Using foil and salt to clean your silver isn’t the only way to restore its shine. There are other proven methods for restoring the shine of tarnished silver.

Method #2: Using Lemon to Clean Tarnished Silver

Using lemon to clean tarnished silver is perhaps the easiest way to restore the metal’s shine. Cut the fruit in half, generously sprinkle the flesh with salt, then rub the silver with it, like a sponge. There is only one drawback to this hack: it is not suitable for small things.

Method number 3: using a paste of water and soda to clean silver

There are other simple recipes for cleaning and restoring tarnished silver than using lemon. Jennifer Rodriguez, cleaning expert and head hygienist at cleaning company Pro Housekeepers, recommends making a paste of three parts baking soda and one part water: scoop it up with a toothbrush or a soft cloth (this is important!), apply it to the silver, and rub very gently.

products to clean silver and restore its shine

Method number 4: using ammonia to clean silver

The main thing in this method is to calmly perceive the smell of this product in a domestic medicine cabinet to remove dark plaque from silver: ammonia works very well, but it smells!.. If the chain or the bracelet has darkened, mix two tablespoons of ammonia and four tablespoons of water, soak the silver in it for 5-10 minutes, then remove it and dry it carefully with a cloth.

Method number 5: using hydroxide to restore shine to silver

Sodium hydroxide (aka caustic soda, aka caustic soda) is unlikely to be found in your kitchen, but it is easy to buy it – just go to any market. Hydroxide can work wonders – just look at what it did to the completely black X that appeared to be made entirely of plaque!

Read also: How to clean your laptop keyboard without damaging it

How to handle silver so it doesn’t tarnish

  • Store your silver properly: As jewelry brand designer Anna Jewsbury explains, silver alloys are not as durable as gold alloys, so for silver jewelry, an airtight container with compartments for every item is preferable.
  • Carry silver more often: according to Anna, it will tarnish more slowly. If the metal has changed color, you can use special wipes for cleaning and polishing silver – a set of 10 wet wipes will cost you 300 rubles.
  • Be careful with chemicals: Jack Cannon, co-founder of London-based jewelry brand Hatton Labs, advises removing jewelry if you plan to clean or spray hairspray. By the way, it is also best to put the chain in your handbag before training: sweat accelerates the tarnishing process.
  • Don’t leave silverware in the bathroom for too long: silver jewelry will tarnish if exposed to too much humidity. Some experts advise placing bags of silica gel in a box containing silver jewelry, which is air-dried.
  • Not all tips found on the Internet are equally useful: never clean silverware with cola. As Jennifer Rodriguez explains, lye can lighten metal slightly, but it can also discolor it and will definitely leave a sticky residue that can’t always be completely removed, especially when it comes to chains.

Source: The Voice Mag

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