How to Clean Silver Without Rubbing
Cleaning your silver can be a drag because it can take hours to polish it. Fortunately, there's a method that you can use to clean silver without rubbing it with a cloth. With a bit of washing soda and aluminum foil, you can have polished silver without the polishing. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
-
-
1
Line a large plastic bowl with aluminum foil. You can line just the bottom, but it's essential that all of the silver touches the foil when you place it in the bowl.
-
2
Boil one gallon of water along with a quarter cup of washing soda. This water should be enough to completely cover the silver in the bowl. If you are trying to clean a large piece, you may need more water--just be sure to keep the same ratio of washing soda to water.
-
-
3
Place all of your silverware on the aluminum foil in a single line. Be sure that every piece touches the aluminum foil as much as possible.
-
4
Pour the boiling water and soda mixture over the silverware. The silver should be completely submerged.
-
5
Allow to cool. This could take several hours, depending on the amount of water.
-
6
Rinse with cold water. You'll see that the silver has come clean.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
You can also purchase a commercial product called Silvermate that you can use to clean silver without polishing.
Be careful that you are purchasing washing soda, not baking soda. You can sometimes find it under the name "soda ash." The chemical name for washing soda is sodium carbonate, so if you're in doubt, check the package.
