How to Polish Silver | CRATEX Abrasives

Every person who in his or her young life had to spend hours polishing silverware before a fancy Christmas, Easter or any other family dinner knows what suffering is. There's a long way from getting all the silverware out of a cabinet or down from a forgotten shelf to displaying it in all its glory on a nicely decorated kitchen table at times of a special occasion.

In between is an endless rub-rub-rub with that special silver polishing cloth. Silver spoons, knives and forks are annoying to polish, sure, but not as much as large, round silver objects. If you've ever used a silver polishing liquid, then you've also experienced a sneaky headache caused by all the fumes it produces.

Bet that not in a million years would you assume that there is a magical way to polish silver that doesn't include endless rub-rub-rub. As the mater a fact, it doesn't include any rubs at all. Those who first tried some of these easy silver polishing methods first felt disbelief, but then probably a combination of complete rage because of all those endless hours of silver-cleaning torture, and – a sense of complete amazement.

In the purpose of saving every child from rubbing silver household items ever again, we tested a dozen wacky DIY silver cleaning hacks and found the absolute silver-cleaning champion. But before we present our Top 5 Silver Cleaning Hacks and a few good ways to prevent your silver items from tarnishing, here are a few general things you should know about silver.

How does Silver Tarnish?

Silver tarnish is the discoloration or thin layer of corrosion that forms on items made of silver. It can be a yellowish tint, dark yellow or eventually – black.

Just to make things clear right away – fine silver consists of 99.9% pure silver and does not tarnish; sterling silver does. Sterling silver is an alloy of silver consisting of 92.5% of pure silver and 7.5% of other metals, such as copper. Copper makes the silver more durable and it allows the object to stay in shape.

However, these other metals, particularly copper, make sterling silver very sensitive to water and air. Because copper oxidizes easily, it is to blame for silver losing its charm with time and getting easily tarnished.

Oxidization isn't caused by the exposure to oxygen, however, but it occurs due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide or sulfur in the air. Unlike rust, tarnish affects only top layers and can only cause damage on silver-plated items that have a very thin layer of silver.

How Long Does It Take for Sterling Silver to Tarnish?

Anything made of silver can begin to tarnish in as little as 2-3 weeks. Silverware can take a bit longer to tarnish, anywhere between 3 weeks and one month. Jewelry tarnish can vary as it depends on the acidity level of the person wearing it and chemicals used in various beauty or cleaning products.

Top 5 Methods for Cleaning Silver

You can find a lot of silver-cleaning methods on the internet that involve items probably every household has lying around somewhere. However, although some methods are quite interesting and surprising, not all work so well. We decided to try a dozen of most popular methods out to see which ones provide satisfactory results and which are just a waste of time.

As a result, we came up with the Top 5 Silver Polishing Hacks that you can try and not get disappointed.

 5^th Place: Yummy Ketchup

Instructions: Squeeze a small amount of ketchup into a small container, grab a toothbrush, dip in ketchup and start rubbing.

What we liked:There is definitely a difference and there is always some ketchup in the fridge.

What we didn't like: It is too messy, smelly and it involves rubbing.

4^th Place: Lemon & Salt (Without the Tequila)

Instructions: Put 3 tablespoons of salt into an appropriate-size container, add 1 lemon juice, pour hot water and stir well.

Place the silver item in the mixture and wait for about 5-10 minutes. Rub the item with a silver cleaning cloth until you are satisfied with the results.

What we liked:Not perfect, but decent.

What we didn't like: The rubbing. Unnecessary effort for results that are not perfect.

 

3^rd Place: Laundry Detergent

Instructions: Fill an appropriate-size container with hot water and add one small cup of laundry detergent. Stir well, submerge the silver item and leave it in for 5-10 minutes. Rub and dry with soft cloth.

What we liked: Doesn't remove tough tarnish, but lifts the darkness, cleans the dirt and smells nice.

What we didn't like: Not effective against tough tarnish.

 

2^nd Place: Good old Beer

Instructions: Pour beer into an appropriate-size container, add silver items and leave sit for 5-10 minutes. Rub and dry with a soft cloth.

What we liked: Not perfect but lifts the shade. No rubbing.

What we didn't like: You'll waste a lot of precious beer for larger silver items without getting perfect results. More suitable for cleaning jewelry pieces.

 

The Undisputed Champion: One-Minute-Wonder with Aluminum Foil & Baking Soda

Instructions:Grab an appropriate-size pan and cover the bottom and the sides with aluminum foil, shiny side up. Fill with boiling water, add baking soda (1 tbsp. per cup of water) and place the silver item inside. You can continue heating the pot over low heat or turn off the heat and let the item sit in the hot water.

In case you want to clean knives, forks and spoons, place them all on a piece of aluminum foil, wrap them up in it and pop them into the pot with boiling water and baking soda. Continue to boil the water for about 1-3 minutes, remove and rinse under cold water. Dry it and shine it with a cleaning cloth.

What we liked: Absolutely perfect results in a couple of minutes with no rubbing at all! You see how the foil becomes black from the tarnish, so it feels like a short, super-fun science experiment.

What we didn't like:Feeling like a fool for all the years of hard rubbing when we witnessed this method for the first time.

 

How to Keep Silver from Tarnishing?

It may seem like tarnishing is a natural process that cannot be stopped, but there are actually a few measures that you can take to prevent silver tarnishing or cause less tarnish to develop. Some of the things you could do are:

• Rub a small amount of conditioner on the surface of the silver item, which will polish it and protect it;
• Store silver items in acid-free tissue paper or unbleached cotton muslin inside a resealable plastic bag. Make sure the pieces are not touching each other as that could cause scratches;
• Keep a piece of chalk wrapped in cheesecloth in a drawer, a box or a bag where you keep your silverware or other silver items. The chalk will absorb the air moisture and prevent Sulphur from reaching the silver.
• There are also flannel bags treated with silver nitrate or other chemicals that you can use to store silver items. They come in different sizes appropriate for different items. For example, for silverware you can choose a bag that has a lot of different slots, so that the items don't touch and scratch each other, and for large silver items like bowls or trays you can get larger bags.
• You can also coat your non-food silver items with a thin layer of wax, as it will prevent air and water from reaching it and tarnishing it quickly. Just keep in mind that wax can make the silver look duller.