How to Clean Silver With Salt & Aluminum Foil

Tarnished silver can be difficult to clean, particularly if it is an ornate style with lots of cracks and crevices. If you are having trouble getting your silver items clean using conventional methods, try a simple option that uses salt and aluminum foil.

Things You'll Need

• Aluminum foil
• Cake pan
• Tea pot
• Salt
• Soft, clean cloth

Instructions

1. Line a cake pan with aluminum foil. Make sure that the foil covers the entire bottom of the pan and the sides. Fold it firmly over the edges of the pan.

2. Place your silver items in the cake pan. All of them should lie below the rim of the pan. If they do not, use a deeper pan.

3. Boil an entire teapot of water.

4. Add 1/2 cup of salt to the teapot. Continue to heat the water as the salt dissolves.

5. Pour the hot, salty water over the silver. Gently shake the pan to move the salty water over the silver. Let the silver sit in the pan for about 15 minutes while the water cools.

6. Rinse the silver with cool water. Make sure that all of the salt residue is gone from the silver.

7. Wipe the silver dry. Make sure that there are no remaining water drops on the silver or they will spot and tarnish more quickly.

Tips & Warnings

• Add 1 cup of baking soda for foaming, cleaning action.

References

• How to Clean Anything: It's Christmas Time to Break Out the Silver
• How to Clean Stuff: How to Clean Silver Jewelry