Letter 1178

Ed. note: Sorry, but this thread mixed how to remove silver tarnish with how to deliberately tarnish silver :-(    To minimize confusion we've made two columns

How Do I Remove Silver Tarnish? --- I've heard of a way of cleaning silver using aluminum foil, boiling water and baking soda. Does this work? Thanks, Louis L [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting] ---- Ed. note: Per many entries on letter 4785, yes it does, Louis. --- I just tried the Al, baking soda on a silver US quarter, Nothing much happened. 420 Ways to Clean Everything by Harriet Wylie, 1992, says to use Al foil, Kosher salt, and cold water and to dip the cutlery for 2 minutes to remove stubborn stains. That seemed to loosen the black coating on the quarter, but you still have to brush it. Tom Pullizzi finishing.com inc. - Brick, NJ --- Am looking for an explanation for/way to prevent/ the yellowing of my sterling silver when washed in dishwasher; did not happen until about 2 yrs ago. Is this related to stainless steel, or the water, or a change in the detergents? Margretta S [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting] ---- Ed. note: Sterling must not be allowed to touch stainless in the dishwasher, Margretta. --- Louis, Exactly how are you supposed to use the AL, baking soda and boiling water? Ralph B [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting] ---- Ed. note: There is now a letter 4785, Ralph, which details it. -- I have heard of the Aluminum, salt and water method for silver. It is actually supposed to reverse the tarnishing process. The salt water acting as the electrolyte between the two nodes. I have tried it myself, both with cold and boiling water, but with no success. Kelly Draper - West Plains, Mo ---- Ed. note: There is now a letter 4785, Kelly, which discusses it in great depth; a lot of people say it works great. -- With respect to tarnishing of silver, if it's like copper you're getting a corrosion film of the sulfur compounds as well as some oxide and/or carbonate. I have used the aluminum process, except with baking soda rather than NaCl, with some success. It electrolytically reverses much of the tarnish, and a faint sulfide smell is noted. It didn't work as well as on the TV where the miracle plate of aluminum ($0.25 worth of aluminum, sold for $20!) was used. I tried both scrap aluminum and aluminum foil - the silver must be electrically in GOOD contact with the aluminum, by the way. I suspect that experimenting with different grades of aluminum alloys in waters of differing hardnesses would account for many of the results listed above. Higher temperature water seemed to have a very limited accelerating effect, maybe excluding oxygen by boiling is an important step? For Messrs. Pullizzi and McGrath, silver naturally will tarnish in the atmosphere, with a huge dependence on the presence of sulfur. Eggs, industrial atmospheres, and natural digestive processes are probably the important sources for most fine silver. Like brass, you can put on a high quality lacquer finish immediately after cleaning to shield the metal, but silverware and other implements will probably suffer damaged coatings in use. Hope these ramblings are of assistance.

How Do I Tarnish Silver? --- I'm a complete amateur with a small and hopefully simple question. I have used fine silver wire to make a pendant for an earring. How can I dull the finish of the wire? It is far too shiny when compared with the stainless steel of the ring. Thanks. Michael B [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting] --- Boil an egg, remove the yolk and break it into several pieces. Put that and the silver into a zip lock bag and close. It should be black in the morning. Careful polishing will give you nearly any shade of grey. The cat or the dog will appreciate the leftovers. James Watts - Fl --- Dear James, I never heard of a yummy recipe like that in plating before! Mandar Sunthankar - Fort Collins, CO --- It is simple, cheap, available, and it works. The alternative is trying to buy 10 ml of Liver Of Sulphur [linked by editor to product info at MisterArt], which most old processes call it. Most any polysulfide will do with a little ammonia. Arsenic will also work. James Watts - Fl --- Where could I purchase liver of sulfur? thanks alan alan smolen ---- Ed. note: You can get St. Louis Crafts Liver Of Sulphur 4 oz. bottle from this link, Alan. It's toxic and can be noxious, so follow directions. ++ I was hand-washing my whites in a mixture of equal parts water and extra-strength bleach. Two of my three silver rings turned completely grey. It's not guaranteed, but certainly worth a shot. Hope this helps. Kelly P [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting] - Hershey, Pennsylvania +++ TO DISCOLOUR ( TARNISH ) SILVER PLACE THE SILVER ITEM IN A JAR WITH SOME ROCK SULPHUR ( YOU CAN GET IT FROM PET STORES ) ADD BOILING WATER AND WAIT A FEW HOURS, I'VE TRIED IT AND IT WORKS. WAYNE S [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting] - MANCHESTER, UK ++++ This way really works. It took me ages to figure out. It gives a uniform tarnish. It works well even if the quantities are not exact, just be careful not to over-tarnish your pieces. Tarnish Silver for four silver goblets: weight out approximately 11 g Sulphur [link is to product info at Amazon] powder. measure out 1 liter of vegetable oil using a measuring cylinder. boil a kettle full of water. stir the sulphur and oil in beaker or jug until the sulphur dissolves as much as it can pour 250 ml of the mixture into each of four beakers (or jugs) pour 500 ml of boiling water into a beaker. pour 500 ml of boiling water and some washing liquid into a beaker dip a goblet in the first beaker with sulphur and oil in it for 1 minute, swirling the goblet dip the same goblet into a beaker with the washing up water in it and swirl for 30 sec dip the same goblet into the beaker with the clean boiling water in it for 1 min (approx), swirling it all the time. The colour should come up gradually- it will change colour even after you take it out repeat with remaining goblets. Rachel N [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting] - Australia

My opinions are not related to nor a statement of my employer's.

Paul Tibbals, P.E.     gas & electric San Ramon, CA, USA (My opinions are not related to nor a statement of my employer's)

I saw, on TV, a method to remove tarnish from silver, It DID utilize water, aluminum foil and salt, but it did NOT utilize baking soda. Instead of baking soda, it utilized powdered water softener.

(The following regards the question of whitening clothes, posted by Kelly Price, of Hershey, PA)
Try this. It really works:
Old Navy recipe for whitening clothes
Here is the recipe for whitening clothes. 1/2 cup Clorox , 1/4 cup dishwasher detergent,(Cascade) , ---- add enough water to cover items to be soaked, 1/2 to 1 gallon THEN stir well before adding clothes ) Stir to make sure all clothes come into contact with solution. Soak 1/2 to 1 hour then throw them in the washer and wash as usual. (An old navy recipe.) Note: I tried this, and it really works. (Rather than going to the kitchen, for dish detergent, I just used my liquid laundry detergent and it worked just as well).

Glenwood R [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- Mechanicsburg, PA

I saw this on Mr. Wizard as a child, from then on it was my job to clean my mom's silver. Use baking soda, salt, hot water and a piece of al foil in the solution. The tarnish should come right off, the foil is there to give the tarnish something to bind to so it won't collect onto the next piece you clean. It's been a while but it worked like a charm then.

William B [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- Phoenix, AZ

I notice you were in charge of the silver cleaning in your house. Do you have the combination of products for the non tarnishing of silver. .I know I should use: aluminum foil, salt, baking powder or water softener and water. But how much of each?

Thanks,

M A Coudry
- Tacoma, WA

i put aluminium foil on the base of the pot and tore bit off in the water poured a fair bit of light salt all over wondering if light salt is the problem?

rhys liebig
amateur - townsville, Qld, Australia

I doubt that the salt is the problem, although most people recommend washing soda rather than salt.

The silver may be lacquered, which would prevent the action from happening, or your procedure may be wrong. Unfortunately, I can't understand what you are saying about your procedure, but it's very simple: The silver must touch the aluminum foil and the silver mut be fully immersed.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

I read the articles on how to get rid of tarnish because I have a ring holder that is all silver and shaped like a swan. My swan was extremely tarnished, and I mixed together two of the ways to get rid of the tarnish because none of them worked by themselves. I boiled water with salt, and then I poured baking soda all over my swan. I got the baking powder wet with the salty water so that it was damp, and then I scrubbed it with tin foil. The tarnish came off easily, I wish I figured this out thirty minutes before when I started my project!

Juliet McDonalds
- New York City, New York, United States