Yes, I’ve searched the internet… but found so many different methods I have no idea what’s legit.
I have some silver jewellery, some my own, some inherited as well as some ornaments at cutlery (who has silver cutlery anymore?!
Some is quite tarnished others just dull.
I have an ultrasonic cleaner which is one option
Would love to hear your tried and tested methods.
Thanks in advance.
lol
I clean the wife's sterling silver fine jewellery pieces with a Dremel on low speed, polishing head and a dab of Meguiar's ultimate polish. Comes out a treat then a rub over with a jewellery polishing rag brings it up to new.
Can't help with the larger silverware items except recalling my mom mum used to use a product called tarnoff in the 80s and that shit stunk but worked a treat.
Edit: holy cow this poison still exists at Bunnings.
Thanks, dremel sounds fiddly but my try on some pieces. I remember my mum used a similar chemical and it smelled super toxic.
Any cocktail recommendations for Tar Off?
recalling my mom mum used to use a product called tarnoff in the 80s and that shit stunk but worked a treat
Hilarious nostalgia.
I remember the ads, dipping in a coin half way to see the difference. Used it on my coin collection - cleaned up instantly but ruined them in the longer run. Stunk like rotten eggs.
Edit: just found this
Great find. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Interesting that the packaging hasn't changed in 40 years.
Place the item in an aluminium tray with a bit of bicarb soda and pour hot water over the top. The tray must be aluminium; you can use Al foil but you need a fair bit and it might make a mess when it corrodes. Instead of bicarb, you can use washing soda or even table salt.
This is the best method for plate silver. If you polish silver plate enough times by removing the tarnish it'll wear a hole in the plating (exposing nickel underneath) but this method deposits the tarnished silver back onto the item.
This sounds good for the cutlery. Thanks.
Works for anything silver - jewellery, cutlery, just gotta find a container that fits it. It's chemically converting the tarnish back into silver.
It works and is easier but it's more corrosive than just using silver polish, especially if you use salt. "this method deposits the tarnished silver back onto the item" I have no idea what this means, the silver isn't coming off, if it was it can't just be deposited back on…
Silver tarnish is silver sulfide. The chemical process described above converts the silver sulfide back into silver. There's nothing corrosive about it.
@Postal Dude: Sure. And maybe if we were leaving the jewellery in the salt solution for days or weeks, that might be a problem. The process described takes 5 minutes, and you rinse the jewellery after.
Silver polish removes good silver, you can't replace it.
edit: you can actually forego the salt in the process, it'll still work, just a bit slower.
@sponson: It may put back the silver, but it won't be in the exact same spot, it would cause microscopic scratches, it's not perfect. In the end a fine polish cloth would end up causing less damage, but either would probably take decades to notice if it's decent silver. The end results would likely be a rough piece of silver or a smooth piece of worn silver I guess.
Although I'm talking about mostly silverplate, for jewellery maybe it would be better.
@Postal Dude: I'm not sure you're understanding. It's a chemical reaction. There's no "putting back" - the silver has never left the surface of the item.
Silver tarnish is caused by silver gaining sulfur atoms, turning into silver sulfide. We simply set up a situation where we encourage the silver to give up the sulfur. In this process, the sulfur is captured on the tinfoil instead.
It'll work on anything silver. Now, it won't do anything for dirt, or a surface that is dull due to wear, but for items that are simply tarnished, it works perfectly.
@sponson: I don't know much about the science behind it, but most of what I've read says to avoid it for silverplate. I definitely ruined a silverplated teapot once doing it, maybe it was just a crap teapot
This. Mechanical polishing just wears the silver off. Convert it back into silver using science!
Baking soda, white vinegar is all you need. Do not over rub. Wipe on, sit, wipe off. Do not use newspaper. Microfibre cloth or similar. Store appropriately (acid free tissue if you don't have the right cloth). In a drawer.
Do you rinse with water after or just wipe off?
Yes you can you won't hurt it. Just don't let it sit to drip dry. It'll leave marks and defeat the purpose.
Soak it all in Coca Cola https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Silver-with-Coke
If the jewellery is particularly valuable take that instead to a jeweller but worth giving it a shot if it’s particularly grimy
use some ketchup, works on nickel too. old water cooling trick
Thanks, might give this a go.
If you have an ultrasonic cleaner, why not just use that??
Not sure if it’s the right thing for the job. Also keen not to damage or unnecessarily scratch anything.
The ultrasonic cleaner is probably safer than most suggestions involving harsh chemicals or acid. You just chuck the silver into the water and the ultrasonic cleaner produces high-frequency vibrations/waves.
Fyi it is the vinegar in ketchup that will do the cleaning so you might as well use vinegar.
If cheap, coke
if expensive a jeweller
Lemon juice
Never use acid on silverware. You're wearing away silver. That includes vinegar and colas.
Use the aluminium/bicarb soda/hot water method. Glass bowl, a piece of aluminium to cover the bottom, boiling hot water, and half a teaspoon of baking soda. Doesn't damage the silver.
Note: Online you'll see methods that show people using absolutely massive amounts of soda. No need. A small pinch is all it takes. Some methods suggest rubbing the silver with the soda. Don't. Don't add salt either.
You may find a fine film of soda remains on the silver. You may be using too much. It's then okay to gently remove it with a bit of Silvo, but be aware every time you polish something you're removing silver.
I have cleaned hundreds of 80 to 99% silver items and have had success every time.
Thank you! You sound like you know what you’re doing.
This is why I prefer gold.
So true! I mostly have gold but some sentimental pieces in silver.
I buy my jewellery cleaners from here and always happy with it.
I will ask my butler.