Ways To Clean & Maintain Silver At Home

Improvement

oi-Amrisha

By Amrisha Sharma

Monday, September 19, 2011, 10:33

If you wish to maintain silver items for a long period of time then you have to look after cleaning ways to maintain the brightness of silver. Tarnish is one of the most common problems behind the silver items losing it original shine and colour. Few things need to be kept in mind if you are using silver on a regular basis such as, keep silver away from rubber, moist air, stainless steel and sulphur rich food like egg, mayonnaise or mustard.

Here are simple yet effective ways to clean silver items at home:

• Wash silver items immediately after every use. Dip it in warm water with mild detergent powder. After washing, dry it with a soft cotton cloth piece.

• Soak the silver item in warm water and use a toothpaste to clean the dirt from it. Rinse with warm water after cleaning and dry it with a cotton cloth. This also helps to maintain the brightness of silver.

• If the silver is tarnished then apply the toothpaste and leave it for 20-30 minutes. Clean it with a soft brush and dry it.

• Add 1 tsp baking soda in a cup of hot water. Soak the tarnished silver in for 5-10 minutes and then clean it. This is an effective way to clean silver items at home and maintain them.

• Never clean silver with steel items as two metals react instantly. The silver can get permanent steel marks.

• Cover a cooking pot with aluminum foil and fill 2 cups of water in it. Add 2 teaspoons of baking soda and 2 teaspoons of table salt and mix in the water. Soak silver item in the pot and heat it on the stove in a medium flame. Let the solution boil for 1-3 minutes and then pour the jewelry into a sieve and rinse thoroughly. This method helps remove silver tarnish.

Try these ways to clean and maintain silver items at home.