The spring is here and so is the time for your annual spring cleaning — the ritual wherein you rearrange all the cupboards in the house, get rid of all the clutter, KonMari-style.
While the pollen in the air might not be making it the easiest of tasks to do, we are here to do what we do best — help you get your house in order.
A very common item among the numerous miscellaneous items lying around the house in need of a good scrub is silver items. We all have them. Almost every Indian household has silver in some or the other form, given that it’s considered to be an auspicious metal that brings good luck and fortune to its owner.
Be it in the form of your precious tableware that you reserve for special occasions or those chunky jhumkas that you have been collecting over the years. The only issue is that silver tends to lose its shine and it also acquires a blackish hue when it is exposed to the elements in air. So how does one get rid of that? We found this closely-guarded secret to get your silver to regain its original glory. Want to know what it is? Read on.
The Magical Secret
To prepare this secret wash, you will need the following items:
- 1 cup of boiling water
- 1 tablespoon of baking soda
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- ½ cup of white vinegar
- A sheet of tinfoil
- A large bowl (any serving bowl will do, but you can take an even bigger bowl depending on the number of silver items you want to clean)
- A microfiber cloth
The Cleaning Process
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The cleaning process involves three steps, the prepping, the waiting, and the polishing. Also, we would like to make it clear that this cleaning secret only works on silver and its alloys. It shouldn’t be used for other metals or even costume jewelry.
Prepping
- First, put the water on the stove to boil.
- While the water is boiling, take the large bowl and line it with the tinfoil. Make sure that the shiny side is facing you and the dull one is inside, facing the bowl.
- Now, add the baking soda and salt to the bowl. And then add the vinegar to the mix. Mix all the ingredients together to form a lump-free mixture.
- Make sure there are no baking soda granules as they can leave scratches on your silver items.
Waiting
- Now, take off the boiled water from the stove and add it to the bowl.
- Now put all the silver pieces you want to clean into the bowl and let them sit in the mixture.
- Wait for a few minutes and let the chemicals in the mixture work on the silver. You can flip them after a few minutes to make sure all the sides get cleaned.
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Polishing
- After a few minutes, take out the silver articles from the bowl and start buffing them with the fiber cloth. You will notice that all the dirt and grime will start to come off.
- In cases there is a particularly grimy item, you can let it sit in the mixture for a little longer before taking it out for polishing.
With this unique cleaning hack, you should have your silver items restored to their former glory in no time. However, if you want that shine to last, we have a couple of silver maintenance tips for you as well.
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Tips For Silver Maintenance
- Clean your silver with a soft, dry cloth and try to avoid using chemicals like acetone as they may damage the original coloring or polish of the items.
- Do not keep silver items in plastic, in the areas that get hot as it may cause dampness to develop which can tarnish the silver.
- Avoid wearing silver jewelry in the swimming pool. Swimming pools have chlorine in them, which is a pretty harsh chemical. It can damage the silver.
- Use a soft cotton cloth or a microfiber towel to clean the silver items, do not use a tissue or other kind of paper.
- Silver is a soft metal, so to avoid getting dents and abrasions on it, store it in separate airtight bags or boxes, covered in a soft white cloth.
- Take off your silver jewelry before doing chores such as washing dishes or doing laundry, as the chemicals in cleaning liquids can damage it.
Follow these tips, and you can keep your silver shining for years to come. If you know of any other hacks that can restore the original shine in silver items, please share them with us in the comments section.
The post The Best-Kept Silver Cleaning Secret Ever! appeared first on STYLECRAZE.
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