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How to Clean Silver

How to polish silver in just minutes, with no scrubbing | Ask Anna
For Malea’s princess tea party I borrowed my mother-in-laws silver.  It used to be my husband’s grandma’s so it’s beautiful, antique and it was very very tarnished.  I wasn’t planning on polishing it but then my mom told me a super easy trick that takes no time at all!
Here’s what you need:
  • A large pot or a large sink
  • Foil
  • Baking Soda
  • Hot water
  • Tarnished Silver
Line the kitchen sink, with foil. Pour about 1 cup of baking soda into the bottom of the sink and then fill it with boiling hot water. If you only have to polish smaller items you can clean them in a large pot, just fill it with water until it starts to boil, then add the baking soda and a ball of foil.
How to polish silver in just minutes, with no scrubbing | Ask Anna
Once you’ve added the water place the silver in the sink.  Right away you’ll see the transformation of the tarnish leaving the silver. Once the tarnish is all gone, set the items aside. Once the sink is empty again, rinse the silver with warm water to remove any baking soda residue.
How to polish silver in just minutes, with no scrubbing | Ask Anna
This is fun to do with kids because you can actually watch the tarnish coming off the silver, it’s pretty cool.
How to polish silver in just minutes, with no scrubbing | Ask Anna
Next I cleaned a large serving platter that I inherited from my husband’s grandma.  I changed the foil and baking soda in between the tea pots and the platter because the foil was covered in tarnish and needed to be switched out.  This is a bit of a smelly task, it reminds me of the smell of sulfur, not my favorite.
How to polish silver in just minutes, with no scrubbing | Ask Anna
Look at the transformation!
How to polish silver in just minutes, with no scrubbing | Ask Anna
In less than 30 minutes {and with no scrubbing} the silver went from dingy and tarnished to shiny and gorgeous!
How to polish silver in just minutes, with no scrubbing | Ask Anna
Beautiful, just beautiful!
How to polish silver in just minutes, with no scrubbing | Ask Anna

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Baking Soda// Cleaning// Green Cleaning// Kitchen

About Anna

"Hi, I'm Anna! Wife, mother, child of God, and the founder of Ask Anna. I have always enjoyed cleaning, organizing, decorating and helping people, so I've put that all together on the pages of this blog. I truly hope my tips help you in your home and make sure to contact me if you have a question!"

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Comments

  1. Elizabeth Dilts says

    December 7, 2012 at 9:41 am

    Thanks for the tip! It worked wonders on all of my Silver Bells for Christmas!

    • Anna says

      December 7, 2012 at 10:53 pm

      Yay! I love hearing that! 🙂

  2. Cheri says

    January 18, 2013 at 6:55 am

    I will have to give this a try on the silver coffee service we received as a wedding present 34 years ago. How often do you have to do it?
    Cheri

  3. Tanya says

    January 19, 2013 at 6:45 am

    I started doing this years ago on my silver jewellry. Important to use the foil shiny side up. I used boiling water though. Didnt know I could save even more time with hot tap water. Thanks for that tip!

    • Jo says

      September 28, 2013 at 9:24 am

      I was very excited when I saw this. For I have a Silver Serving Tray which my Mom bought back in 1975. It was still all wrapped up and still in the box. Went to open it and saw it had sooooo much tarnish on it. I did want you said and most of it came off … not all. Am going to try this process again … hoping that the next time I do it, all of it comes off! Thank you.

  4. Mimi says

    November 25, 2013 at 9:23 am

    After YEARS of cleaning silver, and it NEVER got completely clean, I am going to try this.

  5. sharon says

    March 19, 2015 at 10:28 am

    I have tried this before…even going so far as to boil the water to make it hot. It did not work. Is there a problem with a stainless steel sink??? I wondered if somehow that affected the chemical reaction???
    Thanks.

    • Anna says

      March 19, 2015 at 1:23 pm

      Oh, that’s a good question. I’m sure that’s the problem because I’ve done this countless times and it always works. Maybe do it in your bathroom sinks or bathtub. 🙂 And yes, the hotter the water the faster it gets cleaned!

  6. Curious Al says

    July 11, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    Most sheets of aluminum foil will not cover a kitchen sink without taping the seams where they overlap. And I can’t imagine doing that to a tub for a big silver platter. So is the aluminum foil part of the cleaning process instead of to protect the sink? If so, could you sit the silver platter on a sheet of aluminum foil in the tub?

    • Anna says

      July 24, 2017 at 10:48 am

      The aluminum is a key ingredient in the process because it’s a chemical reaction. For large platters I do one side at a time in the sink. The foil doesn’t have to perfectly line the sink (so you don’t need to tape it), it just has to be in the water.

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