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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

It's Chemistry

What's It Wednesday #156

Spring is just around the corner and I have already started my Spring Cleaning projects. 


As much as I love silver, I hate tarnish. I am one of the few people, that I know, who actually like and enjoy polishing silver, with the help of my son. I have quite a bit of silver all over the house, so my issue is where to find the time to polish it all. I usually do it in batches...but no more.

So when I found this simple cleaning solution, it completely appealed to the science nerd in me. Basic Chemistry and a few items I already had around the house was the perfect combination.

All you need is aluminum foil, a cup of baking soda, a cup of salt, a cup of vinegar, and boiling hot water. I promise you it is super simple. No chemistry degree required. 

First you completely line your sink with the aluminum foil. 

Then you toss in the baking soda and the salt into the sink. 

Now add the vinegar and pour your hot water. I filled the sink about half-way. Submerge each piece for about 5 minutes, making sure that each one touches the aluminum foil. Then watch the magic take place. No polishing required. I used a microfiber cloth to dry each piece. 

These pieces don't look at day over a 100 years old.


I wasn't planning on doing the brides baskets yet but this was so easy I grabbed all of them as well. 


It took no time to polish all of these pieces. I may as well pull out all of my silver jewelry and get started. Easy peasy lemon squeezie, as my kids say. Polishing silver doesn't have to be a major task,  or an expensive undertaking. It's Chemistry!

Do you have any super cool cleaning tricks you can share with us?

xoxoxoxo
Paula


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62 comments:

Amber Lyon Ferguson said...

Thanks for the tip! I love the old tarnished look but lately I have been considering polishing. Will this work for silver plate items?

Heaven's Walk said...

Seriously? You mean I don't have to haul out that stinky silver polish any more to clean my silverware? Wow! Thank you so much for this great tip, sweetie!

xoxo laurie

Parsimonious Décor Darling said...

Amazing! I use an electric toothbrush and white toothpaste. This sounds so easy! Thank you for hosting and sharing!

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

I love using this technique on my silverware...so easy! Thanks for hosting!

Veronica Roth said...

I know this tip, and it works so very well. :D You know, every week I get your email and every week I think I should play along, so this week I finally managed. :D

Redo It Yourself Inspirations said...

What a great way to clean the silver! No more time wasting? Scrubbing and rubbing? I love this!

Jill Harrison said...

this is amazing! I am certainly going to be trying out this tip.
Thank you! Have a great week and thank you for the link up.

xinex said...

Wow! This is unbelievable! Thank you so much for the tip, Patty...Christine

Gina @ VictorianWannaBe said...

Oh my gosh Paula, that is amazing!! I'll have to give that a try. The butter server is beautiful!!

southern seazons said...

What a great tip on cleaning the silver. I will have to try it on my tea set. Thank you so much for featuring my bunny tablescape.

Gina @ VictorianWannaBe said...

Paula, does that work on silver plate and quadruple plate?

Michele M./ Finch Rest said...

Paula, that is absolutely amazing. I've heard something along those lines and never tried it - you have inspired me to do so!

Thank you for hosting. It's nice to join in the fun, having a shamrock themed give-away this time! ♣

La Vie Quotidienne said...

thank you! I am going to try this tomorrow.

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

It's amazing that it doesn't require a lot of rubbing!

Sarah said...

Thanks for the tip. I will use this to polish my silver for spring. ;-)

Lori @ Dining Delight said...

You have so many beautiful silver pieces and you've shown them off wonderfully. Great tip on cleaning them - so much better than that awful smelling tarnish remover stuff! Thanks for hosting this great party!

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

Your silver collection is gorgeous! I tried this method a while back on some silverware and it worked like a charm. Thanks for sharing and for the fun party every week.

Unknown said...

Wow...awesome. Ain't natural products awesome. I love the results. Thanks for the party.

Tea Cottage Pretties said...

Thank you ever so kindly for the tutorial!!! I am so pinning this for when I need to clean my silver. I have a few silver teaspoons and appetizer forks that could use a good EASY cleaning. Hugs, Beverly

Tea Cottage Pretties said...

Thank you ever so kindly for the tutorial!!! I am so pinning this for when I need to clean my silver. I have a few silver teaspoons and appetizer forks that could use a good EASY cleaning. Hugs, Beverly

Our Hopeful Home said...

Thanks for hosting! So what's a brides basket?
xoKathleen

Karen said...

That really does work great I've tried it before and had almost forgotten it. Thanks for the reminder, I'll definitely be trying it again in the near future.

Judy at GoldCountryCottage said...

Paula, thank you for hosting. I love my silver and don't mind a bit of tarnish, but sometimes it's nice to have them all shiny, but hate the job. This looks wonderfully easy and I can't wait to try it..Happy Wednesday..Judy

Pura Vida said...

I enjoy polishing silver too and am excited to try your chemistry

The Porcelain Rose said...

What a surprise. Thank you for the feature.
I too, love vintage silver. I don't mind the tarnish but when I do clean them.... this is a great tip.
Always a lovely party.
Thanks for hosting.
Elizabeth

Heirloom treasures said...

Thank you for sharing Paula. This is what I use for my cleaning but have never thought of it for silver. Great idea and cheap too.

Linda said...

Thanks for hosting, Paula. And the cleaning silver method looks promising. Will try it! Linda@Wetcreek Blog

Bente said...

Wow, that was a easy way to clean the silver and you have so many beautiful things to clean.
Have a great day
Hugs from here

Paula said...

Yes, it will work on silver plate as well. Have fun!

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

Thanks so much for the party!!

Thanks for sharing this great method of cleaning silver too!!

Hugs,
Deb

Anonymous said...

Oh, you're just the smartest one! I love this idea and it sounds so easy. Your silver is beautiful and you have some lovely pieces too. Thank you for hosting your party and don't spring clean too much.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Home Chic Club said...

I love using this technique on my silverware too!Great tip! Thanks for hosting!

Muscetta said...

Thank you for hosting. Have a great week. Tina

Robyn said...

Oh my goodness, Paula, your silver is so beautiful! Love this tip and I need it for my spring cleaning that's about to start! Thanks :)

Liz@ HomeandGardeningWithLiz said...

That's a great technique to clean the silver! I also prefer to see the silver pretty and gleaming like it was meant to be! That covered serving piece reminded me that there is one like that in my mother's collection- I believe it was her Grandmothers. I'll have to write this down for future reference!
Thank you for hosting!

Elaine said...

Thanks so much for featuring my chalkboard globe! Have a great day!

Rita C at Panoply said...

Wowee, I am definitely pinning this one - thank you, Paula! You always see these things on Pinterest, but until someone gives testament, I'm a little leery. Thanks for the party too - well-deserved features.
Rita

Alessandra said...

What an amazing way to clean! It sounds very easy. Thank you very much for sharing it with us. I'll use this technique on my silverware.
Kisses
Alessandra

Gail @Purple Hues and Me said...

OMG! You have eliminated lots of intensive labor cleaning silverware! What a great natural, green and inexpensive way to do this! Thanks for sharing!

FABBY'S LIVING said...

Loving this silver cleaning tip! I love cleaning silver too, specially the end results.
Loving the tablescape.
Thank you so much for hosting.
FABBY

ℳartina @ Northern Nesting said...

Great tip Paula...you have so many beautiful pieces! Thanks so much for hosting!

Curtains in My Tree said...

Paula we have a lot of the same solver pieces.
yes I have used that method before and it does work
I love the little dome covered dish I think it's a butter or jelly ?
makes me want to clean all my silver today.
I have been thinking about stacking all my silver trays and cleaning them, sometime LOL
hugs and more hugs

Unknown said...

Baking soda is magical when we talk about cleaning and polishing silver. I use it for my jewelry but your method is awesome for bigger items.
I'll add it to my Domestic cleaning checklist

Babs said...

I'm another one who loves to polish silver. Can't wait to try you "polishing" method. Easy is good. Thanks for the tip and for hosting.

MONSIEUR LE CHAT ET MOI said...

I do love this wonderful tips, I use it for years and so easy. Your silver treasures are wonderful !
Thanks so much for hosting.
Xoxo from Paris on the sun

Pondside said...

Thank you for saving me from having to look up the formula! I did this last year and it worked like a charm and it's how I'll polish everything for Easter.
Have a good weekend, and thank you for the link party!

Barbara @ 21 Rosemary Lane said...

And I have a hutch full of silver items I have been putting off polishing! Wohoo...getting this job done today! Thank you so much for sharing such a great tip. Thank you for hosting and wishing you gals a wonderful week!
XO Barbara

SarahBeth said...

I'm one of those weird ones who likes to polish silver too -- I love to see the shine peek though! I've seen your "recipe" before, and now I'm just tired enough of polishing to go ahead and try it!
Your silver pieces are beautiful!!

Theresa @ Shoestring Elegance said...

Thanks so much for the Party Ladies! I hope to see you over @ What to do Weekends, too!! I hope you are having a wonderful day!
Theresa @ Shoestring Elegance

My thrift store addiction said...

Great tip! Thanks for hosting, Cecilia

The Summer Kitchen Girls said...

I'm glad you had great results with this...it's something we've been wanting to try...but we've read so many mixed reviews about it being bad for the silver/great for the silver...etc!! I think we just might have a project for the weekend :) we have TONS of silverware that needs polished for the store....thanks for the confidence :)

Treat and Trick said...

Thanks for hosting your wonderful party each week and thank you for featuring my Heart Shaped Kaya Rolls. I really appreciate it! Have a lovely weekend...

Shirley@Housepitality Designs said...

Wow...I am going to have to try this method..the silver looks beautiful!!!

Shirley@Housepitality Designs said...

Wow...I am going to have to try this method..the silver looks beautiful!!!

Unknown said...

You are brilliant Paula! ALL of my silver is in need of a polish so I'll be trying your method for sure. Thanks for sharing and for hosting dear lady. You and yours have a blessed weekend,
Patti

Deanies Stash said...

Love this tip!

ileana-carmen said...

Beautiful party. Thank you for hosting us again.

Katherines Corner said...

I use a similar method too. Your pieces look lovely. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. xo

Crafts a la Mode said...

Thanks for the tip about polishing silver. We've been using vinegar and salt for years, but I didn't know about the baking soda. Love your party. Linda Crafts a la Mode

Shenita @ Embellishments by SLR said...

Great tip, Paula! I tried it a couple of years ago; and have been hooked since! I used to hate the polish getting in the grooves on very detailed pieces. This makes it so much easier!

Teresa said...

You know what? I like all that scrubbing... I really do. Feel very Southern and I'm not even American ahahahah
But I won't say no to this amazing technique when I want to show I'm perfect in a hurry ahahahah
I wonder if it doesn't damage the silver on the long run...
I kind of like the tarnished look but just in some pieces, the ones with tiny details where the tarnish gets different nuances. But this is perfect from streamlined frames, for example.
Oh yes, I'm really going to use this.
Thank you for sharing,
Teresa

Parsimonious Décor Darling said...

Wanted to drop back in.....just tried this today, it worked AMAZINGLY well! Thank you again for sharing, I'll never polish my silver the same again! :)

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