Clean Tarnish from Silver and Silver Plating (House on the Way)

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~Sparkle and Shine~

Years ago, I remember my grandmother showing me one of her latest antique prizes and pointing out the large hole in one of the shelves. At the time, I thought, “Why would you want a piece of furniture with a big rat hole in it?” But she went on to tell me that the hole gave it character. It told a story. There was a history there.

Through the years, I’ve realized that she was right. Who needs perfection when you can have character?

Recently, I’ve shared some of my flea market finds, which happened to be various “trophy-like” pieces. I shared them in my dining room and on my coffee table. As my collection grows, I’m drawn to the unique finds that have their own special design and style. To be honest, I think the ones that aren’t perfect and the ones that have that look of patina are some of my favorite. They speak to me.

But sometimes, we can clean things up and give them a little lift.

Today, I’m going to share my most recent acquisition and show you how I cleaned the little tarnished beauties.

Let me start by saying that I have tried this process before and discovered that the piece I was trying to clean was neither silver or silver plated. At the time, I knew it wasn’t silver, but I did think it was silver plated. If it’s not silver or silver plated, 1 of 2 things will happen; the tarnish will not come off or the finish will!

So be sure you know what the finish is before you start messing with it! I would warn you to be careful when using this method on anything of monetary and/or sentimental value.

How absolutely adorable are these guys?! At only 4″ tall, I love them…but they look like they’ve seen better days.

First, I had to find what they were made of.

A quick and easy way is to look for any markings. On the bottom of one, it says “made in Sheffield, England” and the other says “silver plated” and mentions “pewter.”

Knowing that one was definitely silver plated was great. For the other, I did a magnet test. If the magnet had stuck, it would not have been silver or silver plated. The magnet did not stick, so I decided to just give it a try. I think I paid 50 cents for it, so I knew that if it did get ruined, I wouldn’t be out of a big investment. Although, I really love the lion head detail and did not want it to corrode on me or turn hot pink! (not that it would have done that…) But you get the idea.

Feeling really confident that they were both silver plated, I started to set up my lab…For this chemical reaction to take place, you will need baking soda, salt, aluminum foil, hot water, a large bowl and tongs.

Use a bowl that is big enough for the item to fit in. Line your bowl with aluminum foil, with the shiny side up. You want the tarnished silver to actually touch the shiny side of the foil.

I have seen several recipes on the web, calling for everything from 1 tablespoon to 1 cup of baking soda and some do not even ask for salt. I decided to add both and because my pieces were very small, I added 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of salt to the bowl.

You will then add the water. I added enough water to fill the bowl and cover the two trophies. Once the water hits the baking soda and salt, it will begin to fizz.

I added both pieces at the same time. The one with the lion head detail turned shiny immediately. It was actually really cool to watch! The pewter piece that was silver plated, took longer to clean. You can see the difference in the picture…

After a few minutes, I removed them with the tongs, rinsed them with water, dried and buffed them.

What a difference!

These pieces actually cleaned up rather well. This technique hasn’t worked on everything I’ve tried to clean and again, it has backfired on me with a piece that I was unsure about the finish. So be careful when you use it on certain items. I would suggest researching if you’re not sure.