I have been collecting vintage silver-plate silverware for years now.
Every time I see them at a thrift store or garage sale, I scoop them up and add them to my collection.
I have always loved the mix match look of these pieces.
I really like using them at the holidays and my hope is to have enough to one day use them at one of my kids’ wedding.
You can usually find them for around $1 a piece, or even less.
My sister is getting married and I just happened to have enough to use at her wedding.
I offered to polish them up for her and found a really simple and safe way to do so, without all the harsh chemicals.
Here is how to clean silver without chemicals, and everything you will need to do so.
supplies:
You will need only a few things to safely clean your silver-plate.
1- baking soda
2- foil
3- salt
4- boiling water
5- plenty of rags
directions:
You can use any large pans you have on hand but I went ahead and purchased these.
Line them with aluminum foil, and fill a little more than halfway with boiling water.
To each pan add 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup salt.
Then carefully place the silverware into the mix.
Let sit in the mix for a minimum of 30 minutes.
I let some sit overnight and they turned out the same from the ones I let sit 30 minutes.
One by one remove the pieces and buff with a clean cloth.
Some of the tarnish will cling to the sides of the foil while stubborn tarnish will require more buffing.
That’s it!
It is really quite simple.
I was a little surprised that I did get a bit of an odor similar to a store bought cleaning solution.
how it works:
You might be wondering how this natural cleaning solution works.
I was quite intrigued myself and in the beginning a little skeptical that it would work at all.
I was happily surprised to find out that it was not only a safe method, but also quite simple!
When salt, baking soda, aluminum foil, and water are combined, they create a chemical reaction known as an ion exchange. During this process, the tarnish on the silver (silver sulfide) is converted back into silver, and the sulfide becomes aluminum sulfide on the foil.
This process was really simple and affective!
Please pin this for later!