How to Polish Silver With Washing Soda & Foil

You don't need a butler to polish your silver.

An old cleaning trick for removing tarnish from silver involves soaking the silver in hot water, with a bit of baking soda and aluminum foil, with the silver always touching the foil. While you can use washing soda in a similar fashion, don't confuse it with baking soda. Washing soda or sodium carbonate is not edible, while baking soda's many uses includes one as a recipe ingredient. Use washing soda in cleaning, to soften water and to polish your silver.

Things You'll Need

• Aluminum foil
• Washing soda
• Soft cloth

Instructions

1. Place the sink stopper in a clean kitchen sink. Lay a sheet of aluminum foil along the bottom of the sink.

2. Fill the sink with about 3-inches of hot tap water. Add 1 tbsp. of washing soda and stir to dissolve.

3. Lay your tarnished silver pieces in the sink, atop the foil.

4. Remove the silver after about 30 minutes or less, rinse and buff dry to polish. You will see the tarnish start to disappear while in the water.

References

• "Kitchen hints from Heloise"; Heloise; 2005
• "Room by Room"; Lillian Hayes Martin; 2008