How to clean sterling silver jewellery? Bicarbonate of soda followed by a skoosh of vinegar. The solution does not need to be strong – two tablespoons of washing soda to one gallon of water will do the trick. Domestically it is used as a water softener and is also used to remove oil and wine stains. Crumple a piece of aluminium foil in a large container with some washing soda and pour boiling water over it. There is a small difference between the the two but I’m no chemist so I can’t explain it exactly. They are crystals of sodium carbonate. You can also use it as a drain cleaner. In the U.S. Jewelry is spelled “jewelry”! Be careful as some fumes may be given off but this is a normal electrochemical reaction so do not worry. You can get all kinds of inexpensive silver polish. This article is more or less correct, except for the typos and bad grammar. Another equally successful way is to use an aluminium pan, put some bicarbonate of soda or washing soda crystals in it, place the silver in the pan and cover with water. What is washing soda or washing soda crystals? I’ve also heard of using lipstick – the creamy texture acts as a gentle polish. I’ve had some success using toothpaste. It is similar to bicarb of soda which is sodium bicarbonate. I always keep some of those silver cloths around for chains, etc. that need a touch-up or have gotten tarnished. We use washing soda crystals for lots of stuff in the UK. You can make your own home cleaning dip for silver as follows. Do you know what is brilliant for cleaning drains? Immerse the silver and leave until all the tarnish has been removed, then rinse and dry. That soda stuff you get to clean the drains is washing soda I believe. Yes but the word is jewellery in British English as well as most other English speaking countries in the world. I know what bicarb of soda is, but what are these other two? Bring the water up to boiling point but do not let it boil. I’m from the UK and I’ve never heard of washing soda, bicarb, yes, but not washing soda. Remove from the heat and leave the silver until the tarnish has all been removed, which will only take a minute of two. Plus it smells fresh. The solution should be two tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda or half a teacup of washing soda crystals to 4 pints of water. It takes the tarnish off the silver jewelry and gets the shine back.

Ah, remember soda crystals, a poor mans plumber (by a poor man I mean me. I have found quite a few florins (2 bob bits). I don’t know much about chemistry either, but I’m pretty sure the reason bicarb or washing soda is used to clean metals is because they are excellent conductors of electricity. I’d never sell it, even if it it was worth something. From 1947, I think it was, all silver coins contained no silver at all. I metal detect. I clean my coins in the tumbling machine mostly. Horatio mentioned putting silver foil in the dish with the water and that is something to do with creating an electric field allowing the electrons from the tarnish on the silver to transfer to the aluminium foil, so the two must be touching. I found a 1917 half crown the other day – 14g of pure silver! It’s worth more as silver than it is as a coin. Therefore, Horatio, saying that you can use bicarb in the same way as you can use soda crystals is like saying that water can be used in the same way as air. Twas my dad’s pride and joy! Before the 2nd World War, silver coins contained real silver but in ever diminishing quantities because when a coin of the realm is worth more as scrap metal than their face value, people would melt them down instead of spending them. I have a really old florin (think that’s the correct spelling) my dad found it on his way to work, when he worked in Salford, years ago. I’ve never found a valuable coin so I just clean them up as I please. Oh and the ‘fumes given off’ are highly poisonous hydrogen sulphide (sulfide in US English). You can barely see the imprint and it’s quite large.

Was it like this?

I found one on the beach the other day while two young lads were fishing. Look forward to seeing the pic! Otherwise you’re going to have all that tarnish to clean off your pan. The silver does need to be in contact with the aluminum. Possibly, I’m going to my mum’s house later- I take her dinner up on a Thursday, I’ll dig it out and get a pic. I was convinced it was Thursday today- must my age. Yes, but which one, bicarb or soda crystals. Was it like this? That’s what makes it work. Hi Izzy. Lol, that’s a very funny quote. I’ve just realised it’s Wednesday- where’s my head at today? When I was young they were legal tender. Ions flow through the liquid, electrons flow through metal. I’ll take the pic tomorrow. Much simpler to have it on the foil paper and just toss it out. It doesn’t like like that, and if my memory serves me correctly it’s dated something like 1897. I’m going to dig it out and post a picture, you have me intrigued now. That was a two shilling bit, but still had the (common) name florin even though it no longer said florin on it. I cover the pan with the foil. Makes me feel really old! Sounds like yours is an original florin from the Victoria era? Here’s a video of a guy trying out your drain cleaning trick with baking soda (notice – not soda crystals) and vinegar. For silver sulphide to be reduced to silver, electrons must flow to it from the aluminum, and there needs to be metal-to-metal contact so the electrons can flow. One of the main ingredients of A&H Super Washing Soda is sodium carbonate, which is two extra sodium molecules and a missing hydrogen molecule away from being sodium bicarbonate (better known as baking soda), except it’s too busy spending its time being soap. It’s very worn and you can just barely make the markings out on it. They are different compounds. The silver does touch the foil.

I polish the silver at our house.

But he swallows it instead of pouring it down the drain. Now I have visions of large crystals on your toothbrush! Hi Hollie – The answer Hollie appears to be both! Dip the silver in and just give it a rub. I polish the silver at our house. Yes Hollie, I think I would. So it seems you can breath underwater after all! Obviously you would not use sodium carbonate in the form of large crystals, but both Sodium Carbonate and Sodium Bicarbonate are used in the manufacture of toothpaste. They also both clean silver. For most of it I can use baking soda, boiling water and silver foil paper. Same as for tarnished brass, I’d imagine. It would taste awful, like sulfur. I would warn you not to watch it if you are offended by bad language or don’t want to watch a man regurgitating a mouthful of frothing baking soda as the mixture explodes in his mouth. Ha! If it worked on gold, I could do the fillings and the teeth at the same time. You’re a braver man than me. Would you clean your teeth with soda crystals? I use the basic jewelry cleaning solution they sell at jewelers; works great! If not, Worchester Sauce is supposedly acidic enough to do the trick. It’s really simple and works amazingly well. Brasso, if you can buy some.