This is another tip from my friend Nicole - the one who brought you Squirrel Juice a few weeks ago. I haven't tried it yet but I plan on it. Nicole says you can use toothpaste to clean silver. At first I was thinking this could be hard because a lot of the silver I have are larger dishes, etc. from my grandmother but then she suggested that it works great on silver earrings, bracelets, etc. She also pointed out how much cheaper it is than industrial cleaner and on top of that (and most importantly in my opinion!) it doesn't stink like the store bought cleaners. So, give it a try. What's it gonna hurt...let's hope you already have toothpaste lying around in your house.
Image via Birdhouse.org.
In the museum world we use very hot water mixed with baking soda to shine silver. You can dunk large pieces or dip a q-tip in the mix to clean small pieces. Every time you polish, you remove a microscopic layer of silver along with the tarnish. The baking soda is milder than harsh commercial polish and doesn't do as much damage. So I guess it makes sense that something mild enough to put in your mouth would be a good alternative for silver cleaning... I wonder if baking soda toothpaste works better than the regular kind?
ReplyDeleteStoring silver objects with silver cloth helps prevent tarnish, too. It doesn't affect the silver physically; there is just something in the cloth that prevents the oxidation reaction.