I just discovered how to clean silver naturally and easily without using harsh chemicals, store-bought silver polish or a ton of elbow grease! I’m really excited about this.
You can see from my photo below I desperately needed some help here!
This was my mom’s vase, a wedding present to her and my dad many years ago. As you can see it’s built up a heavy layer of tarnish.
There’s something about the air out here that seems to tarnish silver really fast. I’ve put off cleaning this but with the holidays just around the corner, I couldn’t procrastinate any longer.
It’s a tradition in my family to use our silver on holidays. Many of the pieces we use go back several generations and some have beautiful stories attached to them too.
Naturally, part of our holiday preparation when I was growing up was silver polishing (boo). I remember it was fun helping my mom when I was little. I probably made a bigger mess than I did clean 🙂 Later, when my sisters and I had to do it, it was just a chore.
Wiping silver polish onto the silver, rubbing and rubbing forever to get the tarnish off. Washing and drying everything..ugh, It was just no fun. You can understand why I haven’t been in a big hurry to tackle the vase.
In short, I love the tradition…not the polishing.
This year, I started reading about alternative ways on how to clean silver naturally and easily. I was a really skeptical such a “way” existed, but since we’ve pledged to live greener I had to do my due diligence. I was skeptical because I’ve tried so many brands and products before.
I’ve used pastes and liquids, I’ve purchased some on infomercials and also bought a contraption at the state fair once too. None were ever easy, some were stinky, others expensive or hard to find in stores, or harsh on my hands. Nothing simply worked well and was easy.
Until today.
This was my mom’s vase before I started cleaning it.
I love the detail. I know I shouldn’t have let it go this far, but it was in a box and parts of our home are still in transition from the 1950’s and previous owner.
Without further ado, let’s get started. Here’s how to clean silver naturally using just a few kitchen items.
- Aluminum Foil
- Salt
- Baking Soda
- Soft T-shirt or rag for buffing
I used my kitchen sink which was the most convenient place to clean my silver.
Start with a clean sink, put a stopper in the drain, line the sink with aluminum foil (two sheets wide is fine), fill it about 1/4 of the way with warm water, add 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of salt. Swish it around to dissolve the salt and baking soda.
Because my vase was so badly tarnished, I let it sit for a while (maybe 10 minutes) in the mixture. I could barely see the solution working. Patience is not my friend most of the time, so…curious and skeptical I washed the base off.
I wanted to see if any noticeable cleaning had happened. There was still a lot of tarnish on the base of vase. I thought well, no big surprise, and then I noticed the tarnish smudged where I was holding it. I took my soft rag and buffed the base lightly.
The tarnish came right off. I did the happy dance, right then and there (really did too).
I’ve had this vase for years and it’s been polished with many different types of silver polishes and cleaners. It has never looked this good.
At this point, I’m really excited so I placed the vase on its side and spun it around. Letting each side soak for a few minutes but kept spinning so it stayed wet. Probably for 10-15 minutes.
While it was soaking I thought I’d clean some of my jewelry. Here’s a before and after picture of a few of my pieces. I’d stopped wearing these because they were so tarnished.
Take a look at the finished vase.
It’s beautiful. Probably as clean as the day my parents were given it.
Pretty amazing, isn’t it? I’m thrilled to share how to clean silver naturally. It really worked, didn’t harm my silver and it took very little effort to get the shine back to what it was over 50 years ago. I’m comfortable that we are using a green solution and it’s budget friendly too.
I’m planning on placing “silver care” instruction cards in each box as I pack them away. Someday my children will carry on the traditions we’ve followed and it will be up to them to pass along what we’ve shared.
I love that I can contribute something today that will become a part of our family traditions, and passed on to future generations.
Want more green home care solutions? You may enjoy these posts:
Naturally Clean Your Oven Without Chemicals (click here)
chemical free Organic Pest Control (click here)
Don’t miss my Best House Cleaning Checklist and Cleaning Hacks (click here).
Looking for more good green living information?
Try these books, both are filled with great information.
The Naturally Clean Home 150 Super Easy Herbal Formulas For Green Cleaning .
Now that I’ve shared how to clean silver naturally and easily what have you got that you’re going to polish?
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Winona says
Will this process harm fresh water pearls? I have a beautiful necklace I would like to wear for our 30th anniversary next week but it is difficult to clean. The chain part is not smooth and you cant put the pearls in the silver liquid cleaner. So I was wondering if the process wouldn’t harm them. Thanks
Wendi says
Hi Winona! I don’t know the answer to that question. I think they would be OK since there aren’t any harmful chemicals involved. Maybe call a jeweler to double check. Your necklace sounds gorgeous, I love pearls. Happy Anniversary too!
gabriele says
thank you so much for sharing this advice! it saved me lots of hours before the birthday dinner of my father – he loves the stuff inherited from his family.
all of my silver looks like brandnew. they will have to wear shades during the dinner 😉
very kind regards and once again thanks a lot from vienna, austria: gabriele.
Wendi says
Gabriele…Thank YOU for leaving such a kind note! Polishing silver has never been one of my favorite things to do and we have a lot of family pieces too. I’m so happy it worked well for you!
Angel says
How soon do you have to re-polish silverware?
Wendi says
Hi Angel. Mine stayed clean a long time after using this method. You’ll find it will last even longer if you store your silver properly. You can safely clean it as often as you’d like or need to clean it. Hope that helps:) Thanks for your visit today!
Pilar says
Thanks for the tip! I have some jewelry I don’t wear because it’s so tarnished… but I will try this for sure!!
Wendi says
You’ll love how easy your silver cleans up. I also had several pieces I stopped wearing beacuse they were very tarnished and I cleaned them right up! Thanks for your kind note and visit!
carol says
I’m sorry to say But it did not work for me. I’m so disappointed. Can you tell me? I followed instructions and nothing happened.
Wendi says
Carol…I’m so sorry:( It worked for me excactly like I showed on the post. I did wipe some of the tarnish off after soaking my vase. Maybe try again? Thanks so much for your visit & good luck with trying to clean your silver!
Elisabeth says
I had very good success 5 hours worth of silver cleaned by this method in an hour. What I did notice is that some triple plated hotel ware type silver cleaned up nearly in instant, while detailed purplish tarnished things needed just a little help with Wrigh’s Silver clean paste. It was the fine scrolls type trays that
Could use a tiny bit of persuasion. A while back I discovered that before I started the cream polishing, if I soaked the pieces in hot water with dish soap with baking soda, it would cut my work to half with the silver paste cleaner.
The aluminum, salt and baking soda and warm water is unbeatable for me now. I love and use my silver ware. It really adds sparkle to our small country home. I brought out some hidden pieces that made me wonder before this new cleaning method if the hard work was worth it. Thank you for sharing.
Wendi says
Elisabeth, It’s wonderful when my readers share a success! I too found polishing family and favorite silver pieces an awful task! I’m happy to hear good quality silver plate cleaned well for you also. I didn’t have good luck with silverplate but it may have been low quality. Again, thanks for your note & good riddance to silver tarnish!
Jocelyne says
I wonder if it would work on brass. I have a Moroccain table and I clean it with vinegar and baking soda but I wish it to be cleaner.
What are your thoughts on that ?
Thank you !
Wendi says
I’ve never tried it on brass. I suppose you could try it and see. Bradd is a tough one to clean! I know ketsup works wonders on copper, but not on silver. Good luck:)
Rhonda Morgan says
I love this idea. My mom and dad store their silver wrapped in blue saran wrap. This keeps the silver from tarnishing.
Wendi says
Rhonda, Thanks for sharing that tip! My mom always stored hers in tarnish proof paper which didn’t last after several uses. I love your tip and I’m sure lots of my other readers will too! Thanks again for taking the time to share your great tip!
Dee says
What does this do to a aluminum sink?
Wendi says
Hi Dee, great question, I’m glad you asked that because I’m sure others have thought it too. But I want to clarify the sink material. Did you mean stainless steel? If so, the answer is absolutley nothing. I wasn’t sure when I first tried it either but I’ve done this a few times and nothing happened to the sink. Thanks for stopping by ..and good luck with your silver cleaning!
Marie@TheInteriorFrugalista says
Dang, wish I would have read this post BEFORE spending hours with harsh chemicals to clean all my silver thrift store finds. Next time I am SO doing this! Thanks Wendi
Wendi says
Marie.. so funny. I felt bad when I read your post and you mentioned how much work you put into cleaning and polishing. Now you’ll just have to get out there and find some more silver!
GuinR says
I’m glad this popped up on my Pinterest feed because I have a few items of my mother’s that I recently unpacked and wanted to use this Thanksgiving.
Wendi says
I’m glad you found it! From my feedback I think there are many people who have special family silver thats in need of a good cleaning and polishing! Best of luck on your silver polishing and happy holidays!
Kim says
Your silver looks wonderful! Thank you for the tip. I have several pieces of silver that needs to be polished. Thanks for sharing! Found you from “Making Monday” linky party.
Wendi says
Hi Kim…it really was an amazing transformation. I thought I’d ruined my Mom’s vase. I’m so glad you found this helpful & would love to add some photos to the page of other before and after pics! feel free to send me some if you have the time. Thanks for stopping by & have a fabulous week!
Katherines Corner says
great tips! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. ♥
Wendi says
Thanks Katherine. I’ve enjoyed sharing this this, it made such an amazing difference on my vase and without a lot of work. My vase was in such bad condition, it would have taken me hours to clean it with traditional store bought silver polish. I’m all for the easy cleaning method. Now, if the rest of my house would be so easy to clean I’d really be happy! Have a great week & thanks for stopping in:)
Rebecca @ Love at First Book says
That’s awesome! I’ve used toothpaste to polish jewelry before, but this is even better! Greener and easier.
Wendi says
Hi Rebecca! I know what you mean about the toothpaste. I was thinking about using toothpaste on this vase before doing some research. This is definitely way easier. Try it, you’ll be amazed. I wish all of my projects came out as good as this! LOL
Rita says
Just found you on “hometalk” and will look forward to following your. We are retiring and moving to Florida next year–have bought our property in Brooksville FL just 10 miles from the beach—I can hardly wait. Like your ideas and we, too, intend to slow down, enjoy live, crafts, and simplifying our lives. Thanks for the great silver polish!!
Wendi says
Rita ~ You are so very welcome! And.. you will love it in FL. I’ve been here just over a year and I still have days where I can’t believe I’m here and so very happy to be here too. Simplifying has been fun and I’m still learning. I’m amazed at how little we really need to be happy and content. Let me be the first to welcome you to your new life & FL! I’m thrilled you like my blog and please leave me comments on your progress from time to time:)
Dale says
If you wipe some WD40 over the item once you are finished polishing it is said to keep it from tarnishing again.
Wendi says
Dale~ Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to try it. Our silver tarnishes quickly here…at least it seems that way to me. Have a fabulous day & thanks for reading my post!
Barb T says
Your timing could not have been better. A collection of silver teaspoons
will be in the mixture before this day is out.
Wendi says
I’m so happy my info was helpful! I’ll bet those spoons look amazing after they are done. Thank you kindly for leaving a note & best of luck on those silver spoons!
Wendi says
I know excatly what you mean! Love the look…hate the polishing. I can’t believe it took me this many years to learn this. I hope it brings you more enjoyment from your silver & thanks for your comment!
Heidi says
Thanks for the tip. Love my silver but hate the work. It’s starting to feel like the holidays on track this time.