How to clean silver: 6 very effective home tricks

Silver is a simple material to clean; however, it is believed that you need professional specialty products to achieve this. It is not like this.

Objects made from this material, such as coins, decorative objects, and jewelry, they tend to stain or darken over time giving a rusty appearance. But you have to know that silver does not oxidize, it only has a reaction to hydrogen sulfide that causes it to look opaque and stained.

Let's see what you need to know to be clear about how to clean silver.

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6 homemade solutions to clean silver

For your silver pieces to be shiny and shiny, you do not need to buy any special product, it will be enough with some items that you will surely find in your pantry.

Just remember to protect your hands with gloves and do it in a well ventilated and clean room (after roomba before and having the surface where you are going to clean the silver completely free of dust spots) and use one of these products.

1. Lemon

If the stains are recent, this lemon hack may be enough to clean silver.

To do it, you only need half a lemon and spread it with salt. With that lemon half, rub the silver polishing it, and then let it act for a few minutes and rinse. After this finish rubbing with a soft cloth.

This trick can be used to frequently clean the silver, this way you will not allow it to stain and you will be protecting your valuables and preventing them from looking old and dull.

2. Vinegar soda

The combination of these products manages to undo the opaque layer that appears on silver objects. For this cleaning option, you need a tablespoon of baking soda and ¼ cup of white vinegar. You have to add the bicarbonate to the vinegar and when it has dissolved, submerge the objects.

If the items you want to clean are very large, you can pour a little of the solution and rub with a clean cloth. Then, to dry, rub with a dry cloth and polish a little.

This trick is very efficient at leaving silver clean and protecting it from dullness. It will surely be one of your favorite tricks, as it manages to clean metals in the best way.

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3. Toothpaste

Toothpaste not only cleans our teeth. To the surprise of many, one of its alternative uses is that polishes some metal objects, including silver.

How to clean silver with toothpaste? First wash the objects well with hot water and mild soap. Then apply toothpaste on the silver that you are going to clean and rub vigorously for a few minutes with either a cloth or a soft-bristle toothbrush.

To finish, just rinse again and dry very well. When you see the results, you will be surprised how well it works toothpaste to clean and polish silver.

4. Foil

Do you want to see your silver as recently bought? Aluminum foil is a very effective trick for cleaning silver items.

You need a container that is large enough so that the objects you are going to clean will fit in it. Wrap it in aluminum foil, fill the container with hot water and add salt. Make sure the water covers the objects and leave them there for about 10 minutes. After removing them, dry them and buff with a soft cloth to polish them.

As already mentioned, it is important that it is carried out in a ventilated room and that you wear gloves as it could give off gases that become annoying.

The aluminum foil in combination with the salt will help you clean the silver and make it regain its shine.

5. Water with salt

Another simple but very effective solution to polish silver jewelry or other decorative objects is to combine water with salt. Add a tablespoon of salt to a cup of boiling water and let the silver objects soak overnight.

The next day take out the silver and polish it very well with a dry cloth by rubbing it. The water with which it was cleaned should not be used again, if you are going to clean more objects, it is better that you prepare a new combination of water with salt for each silver item you want to clean.

6. Banana peel

Of all the properties and benefits that the banana has, this may be the most surprising. A curious fact about this fruit is that the inner part of the peel has active ingredients that help remove dirt from metal objects.

So just take a banana peel and rub the silver object to remove the stains and shine. If you think it is necessary, change the banana peel until you get the desired result.

This trick to clean silver is very simple and can be useful for frequent cleaning to prevent dullness and staining.

Bibliographic references:

• Emsley, John (2011). Nature's building blocks: an A-Z guide to the elements. Oxford University Press. pp. 492 - 498.