How to clean Silver Ornaments and Idols

You may notice your very favorite silver jewelry/decorative items/Idols lose their fresh new look and gradually become dark and less shiny. This happens when Silver comes in contact with substance containing Sulfur.

I am generally conservative in my approach when it comes to handling jewelry. Though dipping Silver in cleaning lotions is one of the easiest methods, I always have the belief that they somehow also eat away some Silver in the process.

Methods to remove Silver tarnish

•  The first thing I always do is clean Silver with powder ash (Vibudhi). Take a paper towel or cotton or a nice thin cloth. Take Vibudhi/Ash and rub on Silver. You would notice that the Silver starts getting back its original color. Below is an image of Ash and the before-after images of cleaning a Silver item. 

    Image of Vibudhi(Powdered Ash)

                                                Before                                                                           After

• The other safe way of cleaning Silver is using Aluminum Foil and Baking Soda. It is easiest and quickest way to clean silver safely.

            

1.     Take a pan, add enough water to completely immerse the Silver item. Boil the water for some time. The hotter the water, the quicker the reaction

2.     After the water boils, add an Aluminum foil at the bottom of the pan.

3.     And add few teaspoons of baking soda.

4.     Now dip the Silver item. The Silver has to be in contact with Aluminum and should rest on the foil.

                                    5.  You would instantly notice that the Silver regains its original shine and color. 

                                        To get more desirable results, rotate the silver item few times to make sure every 

                                        side gets in touch with the Aluminum Foil

• Some also suggest cleaning Silver with Toothpaste but I am vary of the idea as Toothpaste contains other ingredients and good amount of baking soda. I have never tried this option personally.

•  You could also wash Silver with a very mild detergent and hot water. Make sure that the detergent is very mild.

• Some may suggest taking Silver items to Silversmith and have it polished. Too much polishing can wear down some of the Silver.