Reading Time: 5 minutes How to Clean Silver – Easy DIY Silver Cleaners (No Harsh Chemicals)
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As a homeowner, mom, and wife, I like to share tips on how to clean your household items. This post is a guide on how to clean silver. You will learn different ways of cleaning silver with coke, ketchup, vinegar, toothpaste, and other household products.
It’s easy to get your silver shiny again using a few household items.
Depending on your item and how much silver it contains, there are many different methods for cleaning tarnished silver. In this post, you will find some of the best ways to clean and polish silver and remove tarnish without using harsh chemicals.
Using products you have around the house, you can make your sterling silver look beautiful again. It’s easy to get your antique silver jewelry shiny using simple and inexpensive ways.
Table of Contents
How To Clean Silver Naturally with Green Ingredients
If you are concerned about your exposure to chemicals and using environmentally friendly products for cleaning, here are a few homemade silver cleaner and silver polish cleaning methods.
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Cleaning Silver With Vinegar
There are so many uses for vinegar. Vinegar can remove tarnish from old silver.
- If you want to clean your silver items with vinegar, start by soaking your silver in a mixture of 1 cup of white vinegar and 4 tablespoons of baking soda for two to three hours.
- Then, using cold water, rinse the silver.
- Rub gently and dry with a clean soft cloth, paper towel, or microfiber cloth.
- If you can’t stand the smell of vinegar you can add a few drops of lemon juice to help offset the smell
This method works great for silver items such as silver necklaces, rings, and silver pieces.
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How to Clean Silver With Baking Soda And Aluminum Foil
This method is great for cleaning items like a silver plate, silver cutlery, and silver flatware.
- First, line the bottom of your sink or a pot with with aluminum foil. Have the shiny side of the aluminum foil up.
- Then, add your silver items
- Add baking soda
- After that, pour very hot water or boiling water until everything is covered
- Let it sit for about 30 minutes
- Then, pull the pieces out one-by-one and dry with a soft cloth or a paper towel. Obviously be careful if it’s still hot!
The aluminum foil is important here. When combining aluminum foil with tarnished silver, baking soda, and water a chemical reaction occurs that releases the silver sulfide (tarnish) from the silver.
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We love vinegar, but we use Force of Nature every day.
The chemical reaction releases sulfur atoms then leave the silver and attach to the aluminum foil.
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How Do You Clean Silver With Toothpaste?
You can clean tarnished silver using toothpaste. This is one of the easiest, handiest ways to clean your silver jewelry.
- First, get a soft toothbrush and brush that toothpaste on your silver piece.
- Then, rinse off all of the toothpaste with warm water.
- Finally, wipe and dry with clean paper towels.
Cleaning Silver With Coke
Recently, I found out you can clean a toilet with Coke, so I figured there are probably other items you can clean with Coke as well. I was right.
You can clean silver with Coke. You can use Coca-Cola to restore shine to coins and jewelry.
Be careful with your antique silver pieces because this method can be risky for jewelry since Coke can cause rust and strip paint if left on too long. Lemon-lime soda also works.
Sterling Silver, Ivory Mother of Pearl Gem, Fine Jewelry for Women. Looks wonderful and easy to clean! ❣️
Cleaning Tarnished Silver With Ketchup
You can clean your silver using ketchup.
- Put your silver pieces in a bowl
- Squirt enough ketchup to cover the silver
- Let it sit for 15 minutes
- Take the jewelry out of the ketchup and put it into a clean bowl with mild dish soap and cold water
- Use your hands to massage the ketchup away from your silver item
- Take a soft dry cloth and gently rub and buff dry
What Is The Best Home Remedy To Clean Silver And Silverware?
The best way to clean your fancy silverware with a home remedy is by using vinegar and baking soda.
Follow the directions for cleaning silver with baking soda, but add vinegar before you add the hot water.
How To Clean Silver With Dish Soap
A few drops of Dawn dish soap mixed with warm, not hot, water makes a great homemade jewelry cleaning solution. Allow the item to soak in the solution for a few minutes, or longer if it’s extremely unclean, and then scrub it softly with a brand-new toothbrush that is baby-size.
How To Store Silver Pieces
Consider storing your silver items in an anti-tarnish bag to help slow down oxidation and try to prevent tarnish.
More Cleaning Hacks From ChaChingQueen
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Erin is the mother of identical twin girls and their slightly older brother. She is a domestic engineer, and previously had a career leading customer service teams for a major HVAC company. Cleaning without harsh chemicals, and cooking easy and usually healthy meals are part of Erin's daily life. She volunteers with youth leaders, and genuinely wants to help others win. Erin has a degree in Communications, with a focus on Broadcast Journalism.