How to clean tarnished sterling flatware?

Lucie Walters
by Lucie Walters
  7 answers
  • Sharon Sharon on Mar 24, 2018

    I use tarn x ! Just don’t leave it on the piece long, follow directions and if pieces are very bad it may take a couple of cleanings!

  • Pmc25383597 Pmc25383597 on Mar 24, 2018

    Easy! Use a tin foil pan put baking soda around the inside bottom so that it is covered with a light coating of baking soda, place silver on top of the baking soda and add semi-boiled water on top....watch the tarnish melt away. I use this all the time. If your silver is heavily tarnished just repeat and no more hours spent on cleaning silver!

  • Nancy Turner Nancy Turner on Mar 24, 2018

    Both of those are ok, but take a little of the silver off each time you use them. There is a chance that the knives are not all sterling, a lot of them are plated to make them lighter in weight. Plain old fashioned tooth paste, a rag and a toothbrush are all that you need. After you rinse them they won't have residue left and need scrubbing, just a soft cloth to dry and buff. Make sure that the toothpaste is just the original formula, no gel or added things like baking soda or whiteners. This will also clean many other metals without scratching or discoloring. I hope this helps, the quick ones that were suggested before work well, but only if you need something real quick. If you see a recipe that includes salt, do not use it, salt is very bad for sterling and it will turn it black.

  • Emily Emily on Mar 24, 2018

    Never use the foil thing on sterling silver (or any other kind of silver) use a good silver polish like Goddards' or wrights. Sterling silver is valuable. I once sold to a jewelry store a silver candleholder that was broken and I got $60


  • Gail Morey Gail Morey on Mar 24, 2018

    I used toothpaste on a sterling silver necklace, and it worked.

  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Mar 24, 2018

    plain white toothpaste

  • Ginny Ginny on Mar 25, 2018

    TarnX, Wright's Silver Cream, Hagerty's polishingi cloths - all available at WalMart and other big box stores.