How do I clean silver?

Terri
by Terri
  5 answers
  • K. Rupp K. Rupp on Oct 07, 2019

    I love Wrights silver polish. Takes a little more elbow grease than the dipping kind but I don't worry about damaging the patinas in the crevices of the silver which can happen with some of the dipping chemicals. I buy it at the grocery store. It is a polish that gets rubbed on.

  • Scarlet Paolicchi Scarlet Paolicchi on Oct 07, 2019

    The best method may depend on the type of silver object you want to clean- here are some specifics https://www.hometalk.com/search/posts?filter=clean%20silver

  • Chloe Crabtree Chloe Crabtree on Oct 07, 2019

    Here are all kinds of ways to clean silver from right here on Hometalk: https://www.hometalk.com/search/posts?filter=how%20to%20clean%20silver

  • I've had good luck placing the item in boiling water with crumpled foil. The foil absorbs all of the patina.

  • J J on Oct 23, 2019

    If you don’t want to lose the beautiful patina of older silver, the best way to polish it is with a top-notch silver cleaner like Hagerty’s, available at dept. stores and BB&B. I like polishing silver actually, because it’s mindless which allows me to envision the coming events in whatever book I am writing or spending that time meditating while doing the tree pose (yoga) on both sides. Whatever your pleasure pastime is, listening to music or a book, practicing a foreign language, polishing silver is a gift of mind wandering and creativity.

    Don’t use the quick and easy sheet of tinfoil and baking soda method if you care about the silver that you are “polishing”. It will remove the tarnish but it leaves a dull sort of film over the pieces that can’t be cloth-polished off.

    And for pity’s sake, use the silver dips only for silver you hate! They remove all the beauty of silver flatware.

    Last piece of advise: use your silver every day! Enjoy it! Use makes it even more beautiful and you can throw just about everything in the dishwasher except for hollowware knives, and only because the forceful water might find its way inside the handle. Also, don’t load the silver in the dishwasher where it could clang and bang against stainless steel — not because the ss could damage the silver, but the silver can possibly mar the ss!