Although some silver polishes and cleaners work well, it is sometimes more than a bother having to spend time polishing sterling silver and being subjected to the malodorous scent of the polish. A very fast, inexpensive and efficient way in which to clean your sterling silver is:
- Line a bowl with aluminum foil.
- Place the sterling silver treasures on the foil.
- Boil some water and add some table salt to it.
- Add one or two cups of baking soda.
- Once dissolved, pour this into the aluminum lined bowl with your sterling silver.
Now watch as your prized sterling silver is cleaned without the hassle of having to polish it or using expensive smelly cleansers.
But, there is more. You’ve saved your sterling silver as well. When you use silver cleaners or polishes, the chemicals or abrasive cleansers will remove the layer of silver sulfate that gives it the tarnished look. The silver sulfate results from sulfur attaching itself to the silver. So when you use the silver polishes you are removing a layer of silver sulfate along with some of the silver. This is why old antique silver pieces lose their weight over the years, due to polishing.
When you use aluminum foil, hot water, salt and baking soda, it pulls the sulfur off of the silver by an electrolytic current that is created through what is known as the salt bridge. Both silver and aluminum have high acceptance rates of sulfur, but aluminum’s is higher, thus the transfer of the sulfur from the silver to the aluminum without losing any of your silver, leaving you with beautiful looking Tiffany & Co. sterling silver tea set or prized Georgian sterling silver salt cellar once again.
