Cleaning your holiday silverware with aluminum foil and a few ingredients.
Call me lazy, but for years I have
been cleaning my silver flatware with this easy cleaning process versus using store-bought
silver polish. Not only is it easy, but it works wonders on pieces with
intricate detail.
Supplies:
Aluminum foil
Glass baking dish, disposable aluminum
foil pan, sink, or basin
2 cups boiling hot water (or more
to make sure items are fully submerged)
2 Tbsp baking soda
2 Tbsp salt
1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice
(optional, but this does speed up the process)
Tongs
Line the bottom of your selected container
with aluminum foil.
Mix salt and baking soda together and
shake on top of the foil
Slowly add the vinegar or lemon
juice (this will bubble once it hits the baking soda and salt)
Slowly pour in the boiling water
Add the flatware to the water making
sure it is lying flat against the aluminum foil and fully submerged.
After a minute or two turn over
your silver pieces with the tongs.
The cleaning process should only
take a few minutes, but could take longer depending upon the amount of tarnish
you are dealing with. Sometimes you will see the tarnish lessen before your
eyes.
Remove the silver from the hot
water, rinse with warm water, and dry off with a soft cloth or paper towel rubbing
lightly to remove the tarnish that was not transferred to the aluminum foil. You might want to wear gloves, to keep our
hands from getting black, since the tarnish is easily transferable at this
stage.
Be careful while drying, your
silver pieces might still be very hot.
Use tongs at all times to prevent
yourself from being scalded by the boiling water and hot metal.
Note:
You may want to do this well
before guests arrive since the chemical reaction causes a slight boiled egg
scent in the air.
Do not use this process on items
with jewels or pearls as it may lead to damage or color changes.
This process great for cleaning silver
chains and tarnished silver jewelry too.
