Whether your prized silverware or favorite jewelry, silver tends to lose its luster over time. Sure, you can always have it professionally cleaned or buy expensive cleaning products, but who has time for that? What if I told you that you can make DIY silver cleaner that works just as well as those other methods?
I hope I have your attention, because you are in for a treat. I’m going to share some safe and effective techniques that will forever save you time and money cleaning your silver. And the best part is that you probably already have all the ingredients you need for many of these homemade silver cleaner solutions!
DIY Silver Cleaner – My Guide & Tips
In the following sections, I’m going to show you how to clean your silver and keep it that way. We’ll discuss what causes silver to lose its natural shine, and what you can do to restore its beautiful glow.
The best part about these secret DIY cleaning solutions is that they will cost you next to nothing to make! Aside from using what is likely already in your home, you shouldn’t have to buy anything to create these DIY silver polish formulas.
If you would like additional DIY cleaners, these cleaning advice blogs are packed with useful information to get your home spotless.
What Is Tarnish?
Before we talk about how to clean silver, I’d like to take a moment to first explain what silver tarnish actually is. By having a solid understanding of how and why silver loses its luster, you’ll be better equipped to keep it protected.
The air around us contains sulfur dioxide, a gas that is almost completely contributed by humans. This gas just so happens to be extremely damaging to silver, causing it to darken.
Your silver will look worse the longer it is in contact with sulfur dioxide. And unless you vacuum seal every piece of silver in your home, you won’t be able to avoid sulfur dioxide’s damaging effects. You can help delay these effects for a long time, but you won’t be able to stop them.
As such, you need to remove tarnish from silver periodically to reverse the discoloration caused by sulfur dioxide. You can buy tarnish cleaner, but this can become costly over time; especially if you have lots of silver to clean.
So let’s look at a great way to keep your silver clean without the added cost. The first method shows you how to clean silver with baking soda – a cost-effective way to keep your valuables looking pristine.
Ingredients for Homemade Silver Cleaner
I love this homemade silver polish due to its fast and effortless cleaning effects. You probably already have everything you need to make this cleaning solution, which is why I admire its simplicity as much as I do.
I believe this is the best way to clean silver on the cheap. It’s easy, affordable, and highly-effective. All you need is water, aluminum foil, and baking soda. Really, that’s it!
You first want to find a deep bowl or dish. Anything will do, just make sure that it isn’t aluminum. Line the bottom of it with a sheet of foil, and pour in a quart of hot water.
Now, mix a tablespoon of baking soda into the hot water. Drop in your silver, and allow it to soak in your newly-made solution for at least a half an hour. It’s possible that you’ll need to leave your silver in longer if it is badly tarnished.
Once the allotted time has passed, take out the silver and buff it nicely until it’s dry. The end result leaves your silver looking clean and bright.
So, does cleaning silver with baking soda damage it in any way? Fortunately, you needn’t worry about ruining your silver by employing this DIY cleaning method. It’s completely safe and doesn’t degrade its value.
Cleaning silver with baking soda is an age-old technique that has been used for generations.
Instructions for Making Homemade Silver Cleaner
In what is the best home remedy to clean silver, foil and vinegar is proven to be effective and safe. The difference is astounding, with silver left looking clean as new.
So, how do you clean silver with aluminum foil and vinegar? Let’s jump right in to discover the secrets of this next method.
You’ll begin by pouring a cup of water in a pot and bringing it to a boil on the stove. Now add in a tablespoon of baking soda and a tablespoon of sea salt.
You will need a glass baking dish lined with foil handy, as you will be pouring the boiling homemade jewelry cleaner concoction into it shortly. You will also need half a cup of white vinegar at the ready.
Pour the boiling formula into the foil-lined dish. Next, slowly pour in the half-cup of white vinegar. Upon doing this, the vinegar will promptly cause a reaction to occur.
Now, place your silver into the dish. If you’re cleaning more than one piece, try not to let them touch. That’s it. In about 30 or so seconds you will have bright, attractive silver, once again.
If your silver looks pretty rough prior to using this method, you may need to leave it in the DIY silver cleaner solution for a few minutes longer to get the best results.
But wait, there’s more! I have another trick that I think you’ll find quite useful. I’m going to show you how to clean silver with Coke. That’s right, the famous soft drink is all you need to clean your silver.
Grab a bowl and place your silver in it. Pour in the Coke until it is completely covering the silver. Now, simply wait anywhere between one to three hours.
The worse the silver looks, the longer you should allow it to soak. After the allotted time, take out your silver, rinse it off, and dry it. Your silver will look bright and beautiful.
The Coke works as a DIY jewelry cleaner by eating away the tarnish on your silver. Makes you wonder what the stuff does to your insides when you drink it.
Tips for Polishing Silver
Want to know how to clean jewelry? It’s really quite simple to bring out your silver’s natural shine. Simply take a microfiber cloth and dip it in warm, soapy water. Buff it well and then rinse it off under cold water. After you have used the homemade silver cleaners listed above, try buffing them out for a brilliant shine that lasts!
