Easy DIY: How to Clean Silver Naturally With Green Ingredients
My silver was looking tarnished and dingy. Our silverware had some spots on them and weren't shiny anymore. I also had a some silver jewelry and silver plated jewelry that lost their shine. I found a way to easily clean the silver in my house without using harsh chemicals.
The easiest way to clean silver without harsh chemicals is by using a mixture of vinegar, baking soda, and water. Then, you can wipe it down with a cloth.
This method works great for your jewelry, such as silver necklaces and rings.
I was able to clean our silverware that we have since we got married more than 15 years ago. I also cleaned some of my silver and silver plated jewelry.
As with any cleaning product, test a small amount on a little part of the item to make sure there are no bad effects.
Here are the before and after pictures of the same silver spoon that I cleaned and shined with vinegar.
For more easy ways to clean silver visit the blog post.
Before cleaning silver with vinegar.
After cleaning the silver spoon with vinegar.
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When silver tarnishes, it combines with sulfur and forms silver sulfide. Silver sulfide is black. When a thin coating of silver sulfide forms on the surface of silver, it darkens the silver. The silver can be returned to its former luster by removing the silver sulfide coating from the surface.
There are two ways to remove the coating of silver sulfide. One way is to remove the silver sulfide from the surface. The other is to reverse the chemical reaction and turn silver sulfide back into silver. In the first method, some silver is removed in the process of polishing. In the second, the silver remains in place. Polishes that contain an abrasive shine the silver by rubbing off the silver sulfide and some of the silver along with it. Another kind of tarnish remover dissolves the silver sulfide in a liquid. These polishes are used by dipping the silver into the liquid, or by rubbing the liquid on with a cloth and washing it off. These polishes also remove some of the silver.
The mild acidity of vinegar dissolves the silver sulfide and some of the silver with it.
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