Silver Checks into the Spa

C.A. at How To Be a Heroine wrote her Friday blog about a fool proof technique for cleaning her silver.  Check out Hi Ho Silver here.  Her results were so inspiring so I tried her technique myself...

Oh Em Gee!  I will never use elbow grease to scrub my silver again! 

My water pitcher went from this...to that!

Here's how:

1.  Plug your sink with the stopper and line the base with aluminum foil.

2. Add 1 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of salt to the sink

(Full disclosure, I was so anxious to try this method this morning before dropping the kids at school that I snaked our baking soda from our fridge that was being used to keep smelly odors away.  I didn't feel like measuring and I wanted results so I poured the entire box.  Wasteful I'm sure but that's what I did). 

 

3.  I set the pitcher into the mix before adding water.

4.  Per C.A.'s suggestion, I heated my water in the microwave to make sure it was super hot before adding it to the sink. 

Immediately upon adding the water, the soda and salt mixture started fizzing.  It is recommended to soak your silver for 30 minutes for best results.  I saw immediate results as soon as the water entered the mix.  Excited, I filled the rest of the sink all the way up (using hot water from the faucet this time).  I wrapped the foil around the pitcher to form sort of a cocoon.  I even spooned some of the soda/salt onto the top of the pitcher).  And then I walked away for 30 minutes. 

Are you kidding me?  The tarnish on the pitcher was slowly getting stripped away while I was upstairs in my bathroom finishing my hair. 

This is the finished result.  No scrubbing or polishing.  Seriously. 

And I had convinced myself that I rather 'liked' the tarnished appearance on the pitcher because I was dreading getting this thing cleaned! 

One thing I did notice is that there are still a few areas on the pitcher that aren't completely rid of tarnish spotting.  If I have time, I may use a polish cloth to quickly buff over the pitcher to remove those final areas.  Ah.  Who am I kidding.  That will never happen.  But you could do it. 


I have also heard that alka seltzer and water is terrific for cleaning jewelry.  I imagine it has the same fizzing effect in stripping the tarnish from the silver. 

And for years, I've used toothpaste for a quick fix in cleaning rings.  (Yes, just add the paste directly to the rings and scrub with an old toothbrush.  Rinse under hot water to avoid a hazy finish being left behind). 

Thank you C.A.!  You're my heroine for sharing this nifty trick! 

xoxo
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