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In this article, we’ll share our maid’s tips and secret techniques on how to clean and polish tarnished silver. Silver is a white metal, which has many benefits of making several things such as jewelry, coins, kitchen utensils including cooker sets, spoons, etc.

As well as we need to do kitchen cleaning, these silver equipment needs a good cleaning once in a while. Also, that’s will complete your kitchen cleaning. But you need to be careful with what you use to clean your silver as some cleaning products are abrasive and will scratch and damage your metal. So here we are providing you a complete guideline about the silver cleaning method.

 Why Does Silver Get Tarnish?

With the time, eventually silver products starting to get tarnish & sometimes it quicker than we want or expect them to. Silver tarnish is the process of the discoloration that occurs in things made of silver which can be a yellowish tint develops to a black coating on their surface.

This happens as a result of a chemical reaction that occurs when silver comes exposed to air and various substances. Therefore, Most of the appliances are made using silver + copper. So most of the time, copper reacts to oxygen at ordinary temperatures and sulfur and it causing the sterling silver tarnish.

How to Take care Appliances from Silver Tarnish?

Generally, there are many effective ways of cleaning tarnished silver appliances. You can use home remedy methods as well as silver polish to get rid of this problem.

By reading this article to the end, you will get to know how easy it is to get rid of silver tarnish. Also, you can use those techniques for your kitchen cleaning routine.

Here we go!

Clean Silver using silver-polish:

You can start this cleaning process by wiping your object with a microfiber cloth. Yes, this will remove all the specks of dusts. But as you know, removing dust fails to bring the silver’s shine back to your object.

For that, to get rid of tarnished look, you should do little polishing elbow grease by using a targeted silver polish products which are available online and in stores to clean your silver. This will not only keep your silverwares shining for years but also prevent tarnish from coming it back.

1. Mix a little amount of mild dishwashing soap with warm water and gently wash your silver item. 

2. Then, rinse it with normal water & dry it with a soft cloth.

3. Take a very clean cloth & put a small amount of silver polish on it.

4. Then you need to polish your silver equipment in up & down motion. To avoid highlighting fine scratches, do NOT do it in a circular motion. 

5. Use warm water to rinse polish and use a dry cloth to maintain the shine.

Clean Silver using natural remedies:

Eco-friendly Natural Cleaning Methods are the best & most effective way to clean your silver products.

Aluminum foil + Baking Soda Cleaning Method

1. Choose a large baking tray which suite to put all your silver stuff to clean. 

2. Cover your tray using aluminum foil.

3. Add one cup of water to the tray and switch on the gas to boil water.

4. While the water boils, add 2 tablespoons of baking soda into the boiling water. If you have vinegar at home, you can add a little amount of vinegar to fizz baking soda slightly.

5. Drop your silverware into the tray for like 2-5 minutes depending on your tarnishes. 

6. Remove your silverware safely & do a scrub using a sponge. Rinse it with warm water.

Ketchup Cleaning Method

I know it sounds weird. But yes you read it correctly. Ketchup can use not only to eat but also to do the magic work in cleaning silver.

1. Squirt a little amount of ketchup into a paper towel or cloth. 

2. Rub softly over the tarnished areas of your silverware.

3. If you see your silver isn’t getting shinier, submerged it into ketchup & let it sit for 5-10 minutes.

4. Rub it using a soft cloth and rinse with warm water.

Lemon Cleaning Method

1. As you know, lemon contains acid which reacts with some metals. To avoid that kind of reaction, first, find a glass bowl or a glass tray. 

2. Add one cup of water and 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice into that glass bowl. 
3. Put your items into the mixture and let it soak overnight.

4. Next day, rinse them with cool water and wipe them using a cotton flannel cloth or microfiber towel.

Toothpaste Cleaning Method

As well as cleaning, toothpaste can damage your silver by scratching up. So it’s very important to know the correct method of how to polish silver using toothpaste.

1. Choose a plain, solid-colored toothpaste that has no baking soda or whitening agents.

2. Squeeze a little amount of toothpaste into a dry microfiber cloth or a paper towel.

3. Rub your silverware gently by giving a light touch. 

4. You can use a damp toothbrush to clean the grooves and intricate designs.

5. Let it sit for 3-4 minutes & wipe it with a paper tissue.

6. Repeat the process until the tarnish is gone.

7. Rinse the silverware with warm water.

Cornstarch Cleaning Method

1. Combine equal parts of cornstarch and water. Mix them until becoming a thick paste.

2. With the use of a damp towel, apply the paste all over the silverware.

3. Let it rest completely and rub slowly with abrasive cloth.

4. Rinse it with warm water.

Hand Sanitizer Cleaning Method

Have you ever thought about how to clean tarnished silver with hand sanitizer? If it is good enough to clean your hands, why not great for silver?

1. Squirt a small amount of hand sanitizer into a soft cloth.

2. Rub the silverware slightly until the tarnish goes away.

3. Rinse it with warm water and dry.

Vinegar + Salt Cleaning Method

1. First you need to have a cup of distilled water. The acid in vinegar may react with the minerals in tap water. So it’s important to use distilled water.

2. Then choose a container which is not used for cooking. Because after doing this process you will be not able to use the container for cooking purposes.

3. Then add half a cup of vinegar and 2 tablespoons of salt into 1 cup of distilled water.

4. Mix them well and heat the container. After 5 minutes turn off the gas.

5. Add your silverware to it and let it soak overnight.

6. Rinse it with cold water and clean with dry cloth thoroughly.