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How to Clean and Polish Silver

Extended exposure to air can tarnish your precious silver. Luckily there are ways to get rid of the stains and it's not that hard. Keeping silver away from sulfur is the best way to avoid this problem, but if the damage has already been done you can follow the steps below to get your silverware to shine like new.

Difficulty:
Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

  • 2 Soft Polishing Cloths
  • Silver Polish
  • Dishtowels
  • Liquid Dish Soap
  • Tarnish-retardant Polishes
    • 1

      Handling helps keep silver free of tarnish, so use it regularly.

    • 2

      Avoid exposing silver for long periods of time to foods such as eggs, mustard and mayonnaise, which are high in sulfur and can corrode silver.

    • 3

      Avoid leaving silver on rubber mats to dry, as rubber also contains sulfur.

    • 4

      Wash and dry silver by hand.

    • 5

      Use a soft dish towel when drying silver.

    • 6

      Apply silver polish according to label instructions.

    • 7

      Rub the polish in thoroughly.

    • 8

      Buff the surface of polished silver with a fresh, dry polishing cloth until the silver has a bright sheen.

    • 9

      Thoroughly remove the polish from the silver before use; silver polish tastes terrible.

    • 10

      If silver is to be stored for a long time, pretreat it with a tarnish-retardant polish before storing.

View all 27 Comments

Comments

  • drdickson May 19, 2009
    I have performed many scientific studies on silver cleaners and other methods to remove silver sulfide (tarnish) and the best results came from Silvermate, a mild, liquid silver cleaner. My studies showed that it not only cleaned the silver but it polished as well. After extensive studies with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and aluminum on the same pieces of silver plated objects, I found that the silver plating began to wear thin and eventually vanish leaving the base metals. Cream and paste I found will eventually wear through the plating as well.
  • chefpierre Mar 24, 2009
    I'm a Chef and I buy silver cleaner. Its a non-hazardous liquid called Silvermate and only takes a few seconds to clean silver and it polishes as well. I have used it for 13 years and it will never scratch, remove silver, or leave residue. I've been happy with it so I thought I'd tell you about it.
  • eggyoke Jun 26, 2007
    An old way of polishing is to use ashes from a wood fire. It can be messy but it cleans silver extremely well. It is the only method I use when I have the ashes on hand
  • eggyoke Jun 26, 2007
    An old way of polishing is to use ashes from a wood fire. It can be messy but it cleans silver extremely well. It is the only method I use when I have the ashes on hand
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