5 Minutes to Sparkle Your Silverware…And Keep them that way!

Sparkling Silverware...

My love with my silverware started actually after coming to the US.  All my silverware that was bought during my wedding was locked and stored in safe keeping, getting tarnished with age and dust.  When I saw my aunt and her impressive array of little silver articles that she beautifully uses for her pooja, I decided there was really no point in allowing them to simply stay put in locked draws! I brought them out and started using them in  my everyday pooja and of course for special occassions like Navarathri, Pongal, Deepavali, Ganesh Chathurthi etc.

My initial attempts at keeping my silver intact was to use the lowly Colgate Paste. I would apply it to all my silver and then wash them with the vessel detergent and wipe them off to a polish. This of course, never took off the sulphides that were glued on to the silver. Then I tried using Rooperi, but the fumes from the chemicals was way too strong for me. Then I saw blogger friend Shanthi`s   post on silver polishing and cleaning and I was struck with awe at the simplicity of it all…No fumes, no chemicals, no scouring, in all no sweat.

Silver Before Polishing.

YOU WILL NEED:

A big pot of water.

10 – 12 pieces of Aluminium Foil.

2 Tbsp Baking Soda.

Soft Clean Cloth.

Cling Film.

PROCEDURE:

• Take all your silverware and remove all traces of oil, kumkum etc with  a soft tissue. Place them on a dry tray.
• Keep a clean soft cloth ready for later use.
• Try to use a pot exclusively for this purpose as this may leave some residue on the sides.
• Bring a large pot of water to boil depending  on the amount and size of the silverware that has to be polished.
• Add baking soda and 10 – 1 pieces of torn aluminium foil.  (Take a square piece of foil say as large as your palm spread out and tear it in to little pieces.)
• Adjust the quantity of foil depending on the number of vessels to be polished.

• 

  Silver ware in a few minutes after immersing in boiling water.

• In a few minutes, you will see that the parts that are immersed are bright and clean and sparkling almost like new.
• Turn them around so that all parts of the vessel are completely immersed in the boiling water.
• Spread out a large soft cloth on your counter and pull out each silver article carefully using a pairof tongs/ long ladle.
• If needed you could scrub your vessels again with dishwash detergent.
• In my case they were all squeaky clean and sparkling.

• Wipe them down to remove all trace of moisture and when completely dry, store them in tightly wrapped cling film.
• The next time you take them out for an occasion or a festival, they will sparkle like new.

• Repeat once a month or whenever required.
• The best part of this is that you use basic items found at home, free of obvious chemicals and  fumes.
• Especially easy for items with intricate filigree work.