As you know, there are plenty of ways to go about cleaning your beloved silver jewelry. However not all of them work that well, and some don't work at all. Or at least, they require a great deal of time and effort. We would like to go over all the ways that you can easily clean your silver jewelry, and of course, all the ways you might want to avoid all together.
1. Backing Soda and Aluminum Foil
Hands down, the backing soda and aluminum foil method takes the cake. And it only takes 30 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on the state of your silver jewelry. The baking soda and aluminum foil method has been proven and tested by myself and countless others, to be one of the most effective ways to clean your silver jewelry. We highly recommend this method!
First, you'll need to boil enough water to fill a small bowl. Next, you'll want to line your bowl with aluminum foil, with the shiny side facing up. After that, add your boiling hot water to the bowl. Then add 1 tablespoon of baking soda into the bowl. And finally, immediately after adding the backing soda, add your silver jewelry into the bowl. Be sure that your silver jewelry is touching the aluminum foil, because this is an essential part of the process for which the chemical reaction takes place. Leave your silver jewelry in the solution for about 2 to 5 minutes.
2. Lemon and Salt Bath
The lemon and salt bath is an old technique, which used to be quite popular among the jewelry fanatics back in the days. But has since lost its popularity due to new and improved methods that take half the time and effort. This technique, if you've tried it, only gets you halfway satisfaction. It does work to some degree, but requires a lot of rubbing with the cloth and repeating the entire process up to at least three times. We do recommend this method, but keep in mind there will be some physical handwork involved.
To do the lemon and salt bath method, you should squeeze fresh lemon juice into a bowl. Then, add 3 tablespoons of salt and hot water. After that, place your tarnished silver jewelry in the bowl and leave it for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the silver jewelry and rub it with a soft cloth.
3. Toothpaste
The good old stuff that keeps our teeth clean and shiny. The toothpaste method is one of the oldest tricks in the book. And is possibly the easiest one to do. It also requires nothing but toothpaste, a cloth or sponge or a toothbrush with light bristles. But given the convenience of this method, the toothpaste proves to only remove some of the tarnish. However, with that being said, toothpaste is really good for cleaning those fine detailed spaces. It's also been known to leave scratches on jewelry. So, due to the unfriendly nature of using toothpaste to clean silver jewelry, and because we care about your silver jewelry, we would recommend you take a little precaution when going forward with this method.
Everyone's got toothpaste right? We'll to get you started with this easy-peasy, you'll need some good old-fashioned toothpaste. The idea here is to rub a small amount of toothpaste on to your silver jewelry with a cloth, a sponge or a light-bristled toothbrush for about 2 minutes. When you're finished, just rinse your silver jewelry in warm water.
4. Coco Cola
Some say using Coco Cola to clean their silver jewelry really works! But I've tried it, and the result left me feeling like I just wasted my time and should have gone with the baking soda and aluminum foil from the beginning. Though some of the tarnish did vanish, there really wasn't much a of a noticeable difference. This method is definitely worth a try if you don't have anything else to use.
To perform this Coco Cola trick, you'll only need some Coco Cola and a bowl. Simply place your silver jewelry in the bowl and submerge it in Coco Cola. Then wait for about 10 minutes. After that, rub it down with a cloth.
5. Beer
Of all the things we could use, or should I say waste on cleaning our silver jewelry, it just had to be beer! And who would have thought, this delightful drink could be used to clean silver? Well to my surprise, beer actually does a fine job at it. And if you find it doesn't work for you, then there's always some beer left over to drink. The beer method is a bit similar to the Coco Cola method, only it works a lot better. It will definitely lift a shade or two of the tarnish. But, you may also find that your silver jewelry still isn't clean enough to wear. So, this method is very doable if you don't need your jewelry to be perfectly clean.
Cleaning your silver with beer is as easy as pouring beer into a glass, only you'll be pouring it into a bowl instead. First place your silver jewelry into the bowl, and then submerge it in the beer. After that, just wait 5 to 10 minutes and then take it out and rub it down with cloth.
6. Ketchup
Yay! I get to smear ketchup all over my silver jewelry! Can't wait! That's kind of the mindset I had when going into this messy cleaning fiasco. Because it can get a bit messy and there's always a lingering ketchup odor. Yuk! But hey, who cares right. I'm getting my silver jewelry cleaned. Ketchup does work, and if you go through the process a couple of times it will remove a reasonable amount of tarnish. However, using ketchup to clean your silver jewelry can be a bit tricky though. Why? Because most of the ketchup you buy in stores doesn't retain a lot of the natural acids found in tomatoes, which are essential to the chemical reaction that makes the silver cleaning process work. So, depending on the type of ketchup you have, depends on how well it will clean your silver jewelry. This method is also very doable if you don't mind getting your fingers dirty with ketchup twice or three times over.
So to do this, simply bust out the ketchup, squeeze some ketchup onto a toothbrush and lightly brush away.
7. Vinegar
The thought of using vinegar to clean your silver jewelry may seem like a miracle worker at first. Well because vinegar is really good for killing off stubborn mold, flushing out toxins in our bodies and so on. But when it comes to cleaning silver or metals with vinegar, it just doesn't make the cut. Now don't get me wrong, it does work. But to get it to work in your favor, you'll need to do lots and lots of rubbing. So, we don't really recommend this method unless you enjoy rubbing your silver jewelry as much as we do.
To clean your silver jewelry with vinegar you'll first need to pour some vinegar into a bowl. Then add your silver jewelry to the bowl and let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes. After that, take a cloth and dip it in the vinegar and then lightly rub your silver jewelry with the cloth.
8. Vodka
Vodka goes a long way when it comes to temporarily washing away all your worries. And it's some pretty rough stuff to drink too. But when it comes to cleaning silver jewelry, it could be said, that it's equivalent to washing your silver jewelry with water and a cloth. Just like the vinegar, you'll need to do lots and lots of rubbing to clear away the tarnish. So, we don't really recommend this method unless of course your vodka is always on standby.
To clean your silver jewelry with vodka you'll need to first pour some vodka into a bowl. Then add your silver jewelry to the bowl and let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes. After that, take a cloth and dip it in the vodka and then lightly rub your silver jewelry with the cloth.
9. Laundry Detergent
It's been said that laundry detergent is really good for cleaning silver. So, I put it to the test. And sure enough, it works! I even took the liberty of trying different brands of laundry detergent and they all produced the same result. The cool thing about this method is that the chemical reaction appears to be very similar to the baking soda method. It does not break up heavy tarnish areas but it does lighten the blackness of the tarnish and removes buildup of gunk and dirt. And it leaves your jewelry smelling really good. It's definitely not a bad option to keep in mind.
First you'll need a small bowl of hot water. Then pour a cap of your laundry detergent into the bowl and stir it a little. Then place your silver jewelry inside the bowl and leave it for about 5 minutes. Lastly, remove the silver jewelry and rub it with a cloth. And walla!
10. Window Cleaner
