How to Clean Silver

You may remember that I found this silver platter at the thrift store for half price. Its no surprise that people were passing this up, I mean look how dirty and tarnished it is. Well, I am a thrifty chick and was drawn to the engraving and holly detail so I bought it hoping I could revive it.
Before beginning this process I tried using my silver cleaning cloth that I use for cleaning my jewelry but it wasn't looking too hot so I continued with my plan of trying the DIY silver cleaner I found online.
Simply line your sink with foil.......
then let the platter soak in extremely hot salty water for about 40 minutes.


I started with four tablespoons of salt.
Along the way I added a little more salt and some baking soda then rinsed it and dried it with a paper towel.


Once it was dry I used a soft cloth and the remaining tarnish wiped right off......
revealing a beautiful silver Christmas platter....my diamond in the rough!


You can see more pics and the full tutorial on my blog.
Jennifer @ Decorated Chaos
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 11 questions
  • Bette J Miller Bette J Miller on Jul 16, 2017

    Would this work on large items? We have a large very ornate pitcher we use for communionand it needs cleaning

  • Dorothy Wirth Dorothy Wirth on Dec 15, 2018

    Wouldn’t this remove the intensional tarnish used to enhance details?

  • Kathy Bourgot Kathy Bourgot on Nov 02, 2019

    Can you use this same process on jewelry?

Comments
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2 of 70 comments
  • Ann S. Ann S. on Jul 22, 2020

    I was told by a jeweler to NEVER use the aluminum foil on method on REAL SILVER!! So, I for 1 would not try this method.

  • Jenny Jenny on Aug 29, 2020

    Not on silver plated items. This process uses electrolysis to lift off a minute later of silver. So works ok but one day the last layer will come off and you are left with base metal.

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