Tarnished Jewelry or Tableware? Here’s Exactly How To Clean Silver
Nearly everyone has silver around their homes, between kitchen silverware, housewarming gift items, jewelry pieces and old family heirlooms. Silver isn’t always the first item that comes to mind when we think about upkeep and maintaining its cleanliness. However, if you’ve noticed your silver items aren’t as reflective and sparkly as they once were, you may be wondering how to clean silver.
Tarnish is inevitable for silver items, especially longstanding ones that have some years under their belt. Cleaning silver doesn’t have to be rocket science, though. In fact, it’s easier than you may think to clean silver and you can do it with items you likely already have around your house.
Don’t toss your silver items just because they’re tarnished. It’s possible to return the silver to its old shine, and we’re laying out exactly how to clean your silver items at home. There are a couple of different methods you can take to clean silver, as well as steps to prevent future tarnish.
Courtesy Kelsey Kryger
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Why Does Silver Tarnish?
Silver is a soft, shiny metal that can tarnish when it interacts with other elements. The most common enemy of silver is sulfur. Sulfur compounds are present around us daily. For example, certain skincare and shower products contain sulfur compounds that can react with silver jewelry as you're getting cleaned up.
Ultimately, silver tarnishes due to a compound reaction with sulfur. When silver is exposed to sulfur-containing compounds, it discolors and darkens as it reacts with the gas to form a layer of tarnish. Humidity, chlorine and sweat can also react and tarnish silver.
Items You'll Need To Clean Silver
Ready to clean up your tarnished silver? There are a couple of different methods you can take with items you likely already have at home, which we'll get into below. Here are some of the items you'll need to clean silver at home:
Dish soap
Towels or microfibers
Baking soda
Aluminum foil
Silver polish
Water
Gloves
Sponge
Cotton pads
Large bowl
Courtesy Kelsey Kryger
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How To Clean Tarnished Silver With Polish
If you own silver items and they're not properly stored, you will face silver tarnish at some point or another. The good news is that there are lots of products available to help you clean your tarnished silver with polish. Here's how:
Wearing your gloves, begin by washing and cleaning the silver of grime with hot water and dish soap.
Once dried, dip another sponge into the silver polish and begin by gently rubbing it over the surface.
As the sponge absorbs the tarnish, rinse and squeeze it to clear it before applying more polish and continuing the process.
Once complete, run the silver under water to clear off any residue. Polish with a dry towel.
If you have items that you don't want to get wet, you can just as easily skip the steps asking you to run silver underwater. Instead of a sponge, use a cotton pad and dip it in the silver polish. Replace with a new cotton pad once it's covered in tarnish. Make sure to buff it with a dry cloth so you can still get any polish residue off.
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How Often Should You Polish Silver?
Of course, if your silver has been tarnished and you'd like to salvage it, it's best to polish the silver following one of the mentioned methods. However, every time that silver tarnishes and is then polished, metal is lost in the process.
Be mindful not to overpolish your silver and properly store it to prevent tarnishing. Silver should only be polished and cleaned roughly once a year. For jewelry pieces or smaller silver items, it's suggested to polish them less—only a few times in the lifetime of the piece.
How To Clean Silver Naturally With Soap or Baking Soda
If you don't have any silver polish on hand and don't want to take a trip to the store, or you'd just rather opt for a more natural solution, you can clean your silver items with dish soap or baking soda.
Cleaning Silver with Soap
Wearing your gloves, combine dish soap and warm water together. Dip the soapy mixture in a sponge or towel to dampen it.
Rub the silver items down with the soapy towel or sponge – gently, now!
Rinse again under warm water once cleaned of tarnish.
Dry and then buff with a cloth.
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Cleaning Silver with Baking Soda
Begin by lining a large bowl with aluminum foil.
Fill the bowl with boiling water and baking soda. You need about one tablespoon of baking soda for every one cup of water.
Place your silver items in the filled bowl, making sure that they're touching the aluminum foil.
Let it soak for up to ten minutes before removing the pieces.
Once removed, rinse, dry and buff the silver.
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How To Store Silver To Prevent Tarnish
The best way to ensure that silver items live a long life is to properly store them. Properly storing silver will better prevent tarnish. Preventing silver tarnish means less polishing your items, which equals a longer lifetime. So, it's a positive domino effect that pays off.
Silver is not a fan of humid or high-heat environments, so keep it in a cooler spot. Using display cabinets can be another great method for storing silver, though it's advised to avoid oak furniture due to the wood’s acidic nature. Other ways to store silver to prevent tarnish include in dry, acid-free tissue paper, in cotton or Tarnprufe bags or in other anti-tarnish storage bags.
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