Years ago I caught the tail end of a home keeping segment on some show on TV. The announcer had been dipping tarnished silver into some kind of fluid that had a piece of aluminum foil in it. I missed all the pertinent details that would have allowed me to try this at home.
A search of the internet revealed multiple instructions for making the silver dip. Most required the foil, baking soda, salt and either warm or boiling water. Reasoning that if warm were good surely boiling would be great, I gave the recipe I found at Thrifty Fun a try:
Place a sheet of foil, shiny side up in a large glass mixing bowl or glass bakeware. Add one tablespoon salt and one tablespoon of baking soda. Add enough boiling water to cover silver pieces. Once the silver is no longer tarnished, remove and buff.
This formula works amazingly well and quickly with very little elbow grease required. A subtle smell that has a vague fireworks scent is released in the process.
When the sliver was shiny again I decided that I ought to do something to insure it stayed that way for as long as possible. I went to my buffet where the special “silver cloth” I have had for at least a decade lay neatly folded and untouched and realized that next week’s William Morris Project was calling my name. Tune in next Thursday to see flannel silver sleeves.
I got so excited about how well this works so I shared it at Funky Junk Interiors, The Hepworth’s and Between Naps on the Porch.
Amazing! I don’t own any silver but if I did … I would give it a whirl!
We gave this set to each other for our 15th anniversary. Our house had become the go to spot for extended family each Thanksgiving and we needed more utensils. We went out to buy stainless and this was so much less expensive. I guess it has fallen out of fashion because of being high maintenance. But this little trick makes taking care of it so easy. I shudder to think of the time I have spent rubbing silver polish over these pieces over the years. Live and learn!
I’m going to try this. I have a random collection of silver pieces from my mom and they are a tarnished mess.
It was amazing. The foil was all tarnished when I was done.
That’s really cool! I love learning about alternative ways of cleaning with everyday items. Thanks for sharing this — I thankfully don’t have much silver to clean but I have many memories of cleaning all my mom’s stuff when I was a kid
I bet that involved a rag and stinky smelling polish!