What are the best ways to clean silver with home remedies? Our guide shows you several clever ways to do with and tells you what to avoid.
Silver tarnishes very quickly and then looks quite unsightly. We show you which home remedies can match the discoloration.
There are silver objects in every household. Regardless of whether it is the noble cup in the display case, the candlestick from the antique market or Grandma’s silver cutlery, silver loses its luster over time. It looks dull or tarnishes black. How silver objects get their old shine when you clean silver with home remedies is detailed below.
Why does silver need to be cleaned regularly?
Tarnished silver is unattractive and should be cleaned as soon as possible. But how does it actually come to this?
Silver is one of the precious metals. Over time, silver combines with the sulfur compounds present in the air, in sweat, in eggs or in sun milk. A new compound is then practically created with silver sulfide.
How to clean silveware with aluminium foil
Best ways to clean silver with home remedies
If silver oxidizes, the resulting deposit is difficult to remove. Silver sulfide is a black, solid salt that is hardly soluble in water. To clean tarnished silver, some home remedies have proven themselves.
Toothpaste makes silver shine
Toothpaste is probably the most popular home remedy for cleaning silver. The paste is applied thickly to the silver and should act there for some time. The silver object is then rinsed off with water and polished to a high gloss with a soft cloth.
»Tip: White toothpaste should be used for silver cleaning and is one of the best ways to clean silver with home remedies. Gel toothpastes have too few abrasive cleaning agents.
The application can be done with an old toothbrush. This makes it easy to reach uneven surfaces and elaborate decorations on jewelry made of silver. If flat surfaces or cutlery are to be cleaned, the toothpaste can be applied like a polish with a cotton cloth.
The cleaning effect can be attributed to different cleaning bodies:
– marble powder
– chalk paste or ‘rouge’
– micropellets
– silicates
Colored toothpastes should not be used for silver cleaning. These could stain the precious metal.
Shiny silver cutlery with citric acid
With the help of a lemon, tarnished silver cutlery can be brought back to shine. The citric acid from the lemon juice or from a container of citric acid (usually in the spice section of the supermarket) is placed on a cloth or toothbrush and applied to the silver cutlery and left to do its work. After enough exposure time, the solution is rinsed with water and the silver cutlery is dried.
»Tip: The addition of baking soda increases the cleaning effect.
Silver cleaning with ash
A similar effect as described for toothpaste can also be achieved with cigarette ash and lemon juice. The cooled, loose ash is mixed with freshly squeezed lemon juice and the resulting paste can be used like a polish.
Baking powder to fix discoloration
Baking powder is in every household and can not only be used for cakes and pies. If the powder containing sodium is mixed with water, a paste is formed which can be easily applied to the tarnished silver objects.
The mass should take effect for about half an hour and can then be rinsed off with water. The silver is then polished dry with a cotton cloth.
Salt and aluminum foil – the proven combination
This proven method is suitable for cleaning silver cutlery or silver jewelry. The silver is wrapped in the aluminum foil and placed in a vessel with boiling salt water.
Tip: The silver must come into contact with the salt water. Therefore, do not completely wrap the objects in the aluminum foil.
After the silver has boiled up, it can be removed again and shines in its old shine.
Clever tips for cleaning silver jewelry
If the beloved silver jewelry is not worn for some time, the horror is often great, because chains or rings look dull and lackluster and have discolored.
With these tricks, silver jewelry can be easily cleaned:
| Home remedies | Explanation |
|---|---|
| potato | A potato is cut open. The silver is rubbed off with the raw potato. This method is suitable for stable chains or rings and less for delicate jewelry. |
| beer | The pieces of jewelry are placed in a bowl filled with beer overnight. The high acidity of the yeast drink removes the deposits and the jewelry shines like new the next morning. |
| Denture cleaner tablet | Denture cleaner tablets are designed to remove discoloration on third teeth. This works amazingly well even with jewelry. The jewelry is placed in a water bath. You add a tablet and leave the jewelry in the solution for a few hours. |
| sour milk | The acidity of the milk can also remove discoloration. The jewelry should be soaked in sour milk overnight. This method is particularly suitable for slight discoloration. |
Another insider tip is liquid core soap. If this is mixed with a little ammonia spirit and dissolved in water, a mixture is created which is very suitable for silver cleaning.
Clean gemstone jewelry properly
Silver jewelry with precious stones should be cleaned more carefully. Toothpaste, with its often aggressive cleaning bodies, is less suitable for this. The jewelry can be cleaned particularly gently in a mild soapy water. A silver bath is suitable for harder gemstones. Soft gemstones do not belong in the silver bath. They could become porous and lose their shine.
Soft and hard gemstones are compared in the following overview:
soft gemstones
fluorite
amber
obsidian
malachite
hard gemstones
quartz
onyx
citrine
amethyst
»Tip: We recommend cleaning by the jeweler every three years for fine jewelry.
Clean silver with silver polish
Various silver polishes are offered in the trade. Silver polishes in the form of lotion are suitable for large-scale application on flat surfaces. Silver cleaning cloths are also more suitable for large-area silver objects.
Dip baths are ideal for filigree silver jewelry. The thiourea contained removes the discoloration and also penetrates into inaccessible places. Silver can also be cleaned using silver soap. The soap is applied with a cloth and rinsed off after a short exposure time.
Clean silver using the electrolysis method
With this method, the silver is placed in a water bath. This must contain an electrolyte. This allows an ion exchange to take place and the aluminum to react with the silver sulfide. The silver should not be left in the solution for an extended period of time. After cleaning, the objects are rinsed with water and rubbed dry with a soft cloth.
Ultrasonic silver cleaning
Silver jewelry does not only change color due to the silver sulfide deposition described. Personal care products and skin deposits can also attack the material and make it look dull and lackluster. These contaminants can be removed using an ultrasonic cleaning device.
The device is filled with water. The silver is then added to the water bath. An ultrasonic field is created after the cleaning device is started up. The ultrasonic waves remove the dirt deposits from the silver and these can then be easily removed.
Ultrasound devices are fairly inexpensive to buy and can also be used to clean glasses, CDs or dentures.
Can you prevent discolouration?
- If silver is properly stored, discoloration and deposits are less common. The silver cutlery is best kept in a bag made of cotton or linen.
- Silver cutlery does not belong in the dishwasher. You should always clean it by hand.
- If the silver is treated regularly with a silver cleaning cloth, it remains clean and shiny.
- The storage of silver and copper has advantages. Copper reacts faster than silver and combines with hydrogen sulfide. The silver remains shiny as the copper coin changes color. Therefore silver jewelry or cutlery should be kept along with a few cent coins.
- If the silver is stored too moist, it starts up faster. A piece of chalk can prevent this. Chalk removes moisture from the air and silver tarnishes less quickly.
