My Sweet Savannah

making your house a home, one project at a time

~pinterest fail or success?~{cleaning tarnished silver}

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All over Pinterest there is great ways to clean, organize, and fix things.
But do they all work?
I put one to the test.

This particular article said that tarnish could be removed from silver and silver plate simply by boiling the silver in water filled with strips of foil, vinegar, and baking soda.

So I went to work.

Here is my pot of tarnished silverware:

Close up to show you how tarnished they are:
I followed the “recipe” and added my foil, baking soda, and vinegar.
I put all my silverware in at once.
I found I had to keep adding water as it was boiling down rather fast.

And after about 15 minutes, voila, beautiful silverware emerged!
I am so happy to have found this trick as I can’t stand the paste used to get tarnish off.
It’s so messy and seems to get all over everything.

So, since this was a success, I thought I’d share it with you!

xoxo

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Julie @ Creating This Life says

      I do something very similar (no vinegar) and it's awesome! Makes my love of silverplate easier to indulge. P.S. Can't wait for your post on the blinds in your bedroom. I'm thinking of doing something similar.

    2. Mummaducka says

      I use washing soda and aluminium in a plastic container with boiling water. Be sure to polish with a silver polishing cloth as they will tarnish much more easily using this method. Also store in an airtight container with those little silica sachets that you find in shoe boxes can help stop tarnish on precious items. Just an excuse to buy more shoes 😉

    3. Judy says

      Thanks for sharing Melaine, I've seen similiar "tricks" to get rid of that annoying tarnish on silver/silverplate for years but never tried any of them….the one I saw said to put them in the sink using your method but I like the boiling water trick….off to clean my silver!

    4. Rebecca says

      I think my way is simpler. Line a sink with aluminium foil. Shiny side up. Making sure to go up the sides a bit. Place silver on foil. Sprinkle with baking soda. May guess is about half a cup. Boil enough water to cover silver. Pour hot water over silver. Sometimes I add more soda. When water is cool wash the silver. and I do my silver Wallace Christmas bells and silverware this way.

    5. Jenny says

      Great idea!
      I actually have a Pinterest board title 'Pins I've tried' & another 'Recipes I've tried. I post anything there I've tried with comments on whether it was successful or not. It also makes it much easier to find the recipes I go back & make again.

    7. Unknown says

      I have also tried this using the aluminum foil lined sink, boiling water, baking soda, white vinegar, however my "recipe" also calls for table salt. The first time I tried it I watched in amazement as the tarnish lifted off the pieces I had submerged!! So much easier than polishing! Some pieces take a little longer soak than others. I may try the boiling technique to see if it speeds up the chemical reaction.

      Thank you Melaine for all your tips, recipes and inspiration!

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