How to Clean Silver with Baking Soda & Aluminium Foil
There are natural silver cleaners you can use made from homemade items. Save money and avoid use of chemicals. Non-toxic and good for the environment. Cheaper too!!
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You can easily clean silver with aluminium foil, baking soda and hot water. This method uses electrolytic action instead of chemical-polish abrasion and removes the tarnish from oxidised silver without removing any of the underlying metal.
This is great for heavily tarnished silver. You can even let the tarnished silver soak in the solution and extremely oxidised silver may just need light polishing. Once the silver is clean, you can seal out the tarnish and seal in the beauty with ProtectaClear®.
Badly tarnished silver.
Wrap the tarnished silver in aluminium foil.
Put the foil wrapped tarnished silver in hot water with baking soda.
The aluminium foil is now tarnished and the silver just needs a light polish
The polished silver is gleaming and beautiful.
To protect your silver from tarnishing again, use ProtectaClear®or CrobialCoat® to keep your silver beautiful for years. ProtectaClear® is practically invisible and it will stop the tarnish and keep your silver looking freshly polished. CrobialCoat® is a combination of our ProtectaClear coating and Microban technology to protect metals while reducing the spread and growth of microbes.
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The usual tarnish on silver is the black sulfide. The cool thing about this is that you can instantly remove the tarnish from any silver item with commonly available household items.
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All you have to do is get a container big enough for the silver item, partially fill it with warm water and a couple tablespoons of sodium bicarbonate or baking soda. Depending on the size of the container, you can add more baking soda. Add the foil-covered silver and let it work. The time it will take will depend on how tarnished the silver is. Check after a few minutes and let it soak if necessary.
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This method of cleaning will work fast. It works quickly, no scratches, no muss, no fuss, and then all you do is rinse the item off. There is no adverse environmental impact, none of the ingredients are in any way toxic (they are food grade!), there is no abrasion or scratching of the silver and you can use your bare hands to remove the treated items from the solution. Just rinse and dry the silver when you are done, & pour the "used" solution down the drain! Re-use or recycle the aluminium foil.
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You may want to polish the silver to a high shine with polish. Maas polish is an excellent polish that is not acid-based. If you do use a polish that is acid-based, then just wash it in baking soda water to neutralise the acid.
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***Tips: Do not wear rubber gloves when working with your silver as rubber is corrosive to silver.
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Once you clean your silver, how do you protect it to prevent tarnish again?
To prevent your silver from tarnishing again, apply ProtectaClear®. ProtectaClear® is an easy to apply, clear protective coating that looks very natural and will keep your silver looking like it is freshly polished. ProtectaClear® is self-leveling, long-lasting and will keep silver looking great for years.
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After the silver is cleaned and the polish residue is removed by wiping with a solvent like xylene or denatured alcohol, simply wipe the coating on with the applicator that comes with every order of liquid coating. You can also dip the silver into ProtectaClear® or CrobialCoat® or use natural bristled brushes to paint on ProtectaClear® or CrobialCoat® which is self-levelling and the brush marks will disappear.
Buy our ProtectaClear Coating
Buy our CrobialCoat® Coating
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