Brighten Your Silver Jewelry (or anything else silver)

Did you know that you can brighten up your tarnished silver components and jewelry without leaving your kitchen? Baking soda is the secret ingredient in this method which I recently put to the test and have directions to share with you.

You will need:

• baking soda
• aluminum foil
• pot
• boiling water
• metal tray

1. In a pot bring two cups of water to a boil to which you've added 1/2 cup of baking soda.
2. Next, line a shallow toaster oven baking tray with aluminum foil and arrange your pieces so that each one has contact with the aluminum foil.
3. Gently pour the water and baking soda solution over the peices.
4. Buff with a Sunshine Cloth

A simplified explanation of the science behind this method is that when silver tarnishes, it combines with sulfur from the air and forms silver sulfide which is black. There are two ways to remove this coating – one is to remove the silver sulfide from the surface using abrasion and the other is to reverse the chemical process. When the tarnish is removed through abrasion (polishing) some of the silver is also removed. With the method described today none of the silver is removed. The aluminum is effective because it has a stronger affinity to sulfur than silver does, so the warm baking soda solution carries the sulfur atoms from the silver to the aluminum.

This SMART TIP was provided by The Nice People found here.