How to Clean Silver: Home Remedies and Tricks

Whether cutlery, candlesticks or jewellery – objects made of silver lose their shine over time, tarnish and even turn black. You can find out what you can do about it here.

Why is silver tarnishing?

Spent silver is not a pretty sight. But how can this happen? These deposits are silver sulfide, which is formed when silver meets oxygen and hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulphide is found in the air or in food. Silver sulfide is a black, solid salt.

Cleaning silver: These home remedies help

It does not always have to be a silver immersion bath from the drugstore. With the right home remedies, your silverware will shine again very quickly.

• Citric acid: Tarnished cutlery or discoloured jewellery shine again thanks to citric acid. To do this, simply pour citric acid into a bowl and dip a toothbrush into it, brushing the silver with it. (Soda can be added additionally – it intensifies the cleaning). Finally, rinse with water and dry.
• Toothpaste: One of the most popular household remedies is toothpaste. Apply the paste to the silver and let it work. Then rinse the silver with water and polish with a cotton cloth.
• Baking powder: Baking powder is a true all-rounder. You can simply mix the powder with water and apply the paste to silver jewellery, cutlery, etc. and rub it in with an old toothbrush. After a good half hour, rinse the whole thing with water and dry and polish with a cloth. Other stains can also be easily removed with baking powder.
• Aluminium foil and salt: Wrap the silver in aluminium foil and place in boiling water with salt. Important: The silver must come into contact with the salt water, so do not completely enclose the whole thing in aluminium foil. Bring to the boil once and take out the silver, let it cool down. And lo and behold: the silver has its shine back.

Preventive measures

• Chalk: The typical white school chalk can prevent silver tarnishing. Chalk extracts moisture from the air. Easy to add to jewellery or silver cutlery.
• Correct storage: Storing silver as dry as possible also prevents discoloration. Silver cutlery can simply be wrapped in a cotton cloth or aluminium foil. This prevents any reaction with the sulphur particles in the air.
• Dishwasher is taboo: Silver and stainless steel cutlery must not be cleaned in the dishwasher.
• Silver cleaning cloth: If you regularly polish your silver jewellery and silverware with a silver cleaning cloth, you don’t need to clean much. Silver polish supports the cleaning.