Handy Tips On Sparkling Your Silver

• Silver tarnishes when it is exposed to air, particularly when it is humid and damp. So when you don’t have it on display, keep it wrapped in cloth or plastic.

• Also ensure that it does not come into contact with acidic items. Flower or fruit, for instance, will look great in silver bowls, but do keep an eye on these as they begin to decay. The acid these items produce can leave marks on the container and damage it forever.

• Rubber, table salt, salad dressing, olives, eggs, vinegar and fruit juices are also supposed to be enemies of silver, so if you must serve these items in silver, do rinse off the bowls double quick.

• Dry baking soda is an excellent cleaner of silver. Try it on tableware, candlestick holders, trays, and jewellery. Make a paste with water and baking soda; cover the item with the paste, rub it, rinse the mixture off and dry it.

• Another way to use baking soda is to put a sheet of aluminium foil in a pan, add about three inches of water, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of baking soda and bring it to a boil. Put in the silver that needs to be cleaned, and let it boil for a couple of minutes, ensuring that the pieces are covered in water. Rinse, buff and dry.

• Your silverware will emerge
bright and shining when it is washed in very hot, soapy water and then dried as though you were polishing it. It’s the drying process that makes for sparkling silver.

• We’ve had some miraculous results with good old toothpaste. Just brush your silverware as though you were cleaning your teeth. Then wash the silver in warm soapsuds, rinsing and wiping dry. Use an old toothbrush for the difficult crevices.

• People who have tried this swear it works; milk that is souring in the refrigerator is supposed to act as a great polish for silver.

• The simplest way to retard tarnish is to rinse your silverware thoroughly after washing it. Even the slightest bit of soapy residue hastens tarnishing.

• If it does get tarnished, place it in some potato water for a while and you will usually find it looks much better when dried.