How to Clean Silver at Home with Foil

Freshen up your silver with an aluminum foil cleaning.

Cleaning silver can be a time-consuming task. Although it is essential to clean silver in order to avoid displaying tarnish stains, it is not always necessary to go through the difficulty of doing a full polish job complete with cloths and smelly silver polish. If you keep a roll of aluminum foil handy, you can clean your silver regularly to avoid heavy tarnish stains that will require a thorough polishing.

Things You'll Need

• Aluminum foil
• Plastic bowl
• 1/4 cup washing soda
• Boiling water
• Large plastic spoon
• Cloth
• Salt

Instructions

1. Place aluminum foil on the bottom of a large plastic bowl. The shiny side should be face-up. Place silver pieces on the aluminum foil.

2. Pour 1/4 cup washing soda into the plastic bowl. Pour 1 gallon of boiling water into the bowl. Use a large plastic spoon to stir the ingredients in the bowl.

3. Remove silver after 10 to 15 minutes and rinse well. Dry with a clean cloth.

Tips & Warnings

• If tarnish still remains, add a teaspoon of salt to the mixture in the bowl and repeat process.

References

• Good Housekeeping: Clean Silver Flatware: Traditional and Homemade Methods

Resources

• Kitchen, Crafts & More: Clean Silver with Foil