Sterling silver jewelry can lose its luster over time, but it’s not lost forever. You can bring back the shine to sterling silver with an inexpensive home staple -- baking soda. Don’t use baking soda to clean sterling silver that contains stones like diamonds, rubies, pearls or other precious, delicate gems, as it can cause damage. But as for the rest of your sterling silver, a baking soda bath is as easy as one, two, three.
Line a saucepan with aluminum foil. Add about 3 inches of water to the pan.
Pour 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of table salt into the water. Stir gently with a spoon.
Place the pan on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Add the sterling silver jewelry and allow it to boil for about 2 minutes. Be sure there’s enough water in the pan to completely cover the silver pieces.
Remove the jewelry from the water with tongs. Rinse under cool water and lay flat on a soft cloth. Wipe the jewelry with another soft cloth to remove the water, and lay flat to air-dry completely.
Tip
Soak your silver jewelry for a couple of hours in a mixture of 1 cup of white vinegar and 3 tablespoons of baking soda for an alternate cleaning method. Rinse well with cold water and buff with a soft cloth to dry.
Spot clean sterling silver jewelry by buffing with a soft cloth and a paste of baking soda and water. Rinse well and buff dry.
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Writer Bio
Kimbry Parker has been writing since 1998 and has published content on various websites. Parker has experience writing on a variety of topics such as health, parenting, home improvement and decorating. She is a graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor of Arts in organizational communication.