How To Clean Dirty Silver Jewelry with DIY Recipe

My grandmother would clean her silver plates with ketchup. Word on the street – from her Puerto Rican neighborhood – is that the acidity from the tomatoes react with the tarnished silver.

I remember watching her scrub plate after plate and her silver forks and knives in a bloody mess of ketchup. After barely seeing a difference, I nod approvingly as she pinches my back fat to show me what she was up to. Since then, I use a different method (that is way less messy than ketchup lol) and in my opinion, much more effective way to clean silver!

Toxic Silver Cleaners

There are many diverse ways to clean silver, but unfortunately some include toxins. So why are some silver cleaners bad to use?

For starters, the scent alone is unpleasant and releases harmful chemicals into your household. This is bad for you and any children or pets in the household. Some silver cleaners may contain ammonia, a harsh chemical.

Health.ny.gov states this about ammonia poisoning:

“Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in air causes immediate burning of the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract and can result in blindness, lung damage or death. Inhalation of lower concentrations can cause coughing, and nose and throat irritation.”

No muy bueno, if you ask me.

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Secondly, many silver cleaners will attack the silver by stripping away its silver molecules. Instead of taking away from your silver, you can reverse the tarnish build up by using a simple, safe, and easy homemade DIY silver cleaner.

All-Natural Silver DIY Cleaning Recipe

If you have silver pieces laying around that you no longer use because it has oxidized and turned rusty and brown, this recipe is for you.

Before you throw your silver pieces away, or lock them in your jewelry box for good, here is a simple DIY hack to clean silver and make it shine as good as new right in your own kitchen! ✨

This recipe is safe, extremely simple, and the best part: SO EASY!

All you need is:

• A bowl (porcelain or glass works best)
• Aluminum foil
• Hot water
• Baking soda

Watch a demonstration here, or read instructions after the video:

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Steps to Clean Your Dirty Silver Jewelry

1. Start by lining your bowl with aluminum foil.
2. Place your silver jewelry in your bowl.
3. Cover the silver with baking soda. You want to make sure you have enough that the baking soda and aluminum foil will interact with each other.
4. Pour hot water over the baking soda.
5. Wait about 5-10 min for the water to cool down so you can handle your silver with care. Take caution not to burn yourself!
6. For extra stubborn tarnish silver pieces, you can gently scrub by using a toothbrush.
7. Rinse your silver jewelry, and be amazed at how sparkly and shiny they are!

Disclaimer: I have only tried this method with real 925 sterling silver, and 10k, 14k, and 24k gold. I don’t know how this would work on costume jewelry.

Follow me on instagram at @bearfruitbasics for more DIY tips!