Thursday, December 27, 2012

Betsy's Science Experiment!!!!!

A couple of weeks ago.....
 when I wrote about polishing my silver.....
a few of you wise guys left comments about how easy it was.....
 to dip the tarnished treasures in a home brewed magical elixir!!!!!

Sooooooo.....
While all my Christian friends were busy ignoring me doing their Christmassy stuff on the 25th.....
I decided.....
WHO NEEDS EM ANYWAY????
I CAN HAVE FUN BY MYSELF!!!!!
(grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble.....)

Soooooo.......
I had planned ahead and bought some pyrex bowels the day before.
I googled the recipe for tarnish removal, 
and chose the one that sounded the bestest!!!!

And I documented the whole shebang for your enjoyment!!!!!

Exhibit One......
my new bowls!!!!
I also bought some Wright's Silver Cream for back up.....

Next step.....
Line the bowl with tin foil, 
you need the aluminum for one of the elements in the magic trick....

Next step....
Add 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of backing soda to the dealio.....

Then pour in boiling water....
AND THE WHOLE THING STARTS TO SISS AND STEAM!!!!

Then place your tarnished silver or silver plate item in the bath.
I started with my
REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY 
TARNISHED
SOUP SPOONS!!!!!
I dropped them in the bowl, and 
instantaneously
the tarnish disappeared.
I mean.....
One second it was there.....
and the next second it was 
gone!!!!!
Here's the before of the little container I use in my bathroom for my q-tips.
Here's the after, it took 2 seconds, tops for the change....
Here's a shot of a little round tray I had to do in stages, 
as it wouldn't all fit into the bowl.
You can really see the difference this way.....
I had to use silver polish for the middle, as the water couldn't reach.....
Look at this baby all polished and pretty!!!!!
I have another little tray that was so bad it looked like tortoise shell....
I needed to use just a little polish to get all the spots off.
Took almost no work at all.
My kind of project!!!!!
Now it's so shiny, 
it was hard to photograph because of the refection!!!!!
My hand held mirror is shiny tooooooo.......

This is what it looked like before.....
I used just regular silver polish on it, because I wasn't sure what would happen to the mirror if it was submerged in water.
This is what the water looked like after.....
This is what the tin foil looked like.....
How cool is this #$% anyway?????
I LOVE THIS KIND OF STUFF!!!!!

I now have no excuse to let my silver get this bad 
EVER AGAIN!!!!!
I hope this was helpful to all the other clueless home keepers out there.

Sooooo.....
That's what I did for Christmas.
I now feel all sparkley and festive because this stinkin' holiday is over, and my friends will start playing with me again, 
as soon as their rotten kids go back to school!!!!!
So,
on that lovely note,
Later, Gator
Photobucket

27 comments:

Sunny Simple Life said...

I love this trick too. When I posted about it someone left me a comment that it is bad for the silver. I have not noticed any damage. Did you? It is so easy especially for the small pieces and cutlery.

Vikki said...

Wow Betsy...thanks for the demo. I'm off to do this with my silver.

P.S.
The Wright's Silver Cream people called. They hate you. he, he, he

Rose :: Craft said...

But ...we DIDN'T forget you. INSTEAD, we send you our most creative thoughts. And see, what a great Christmas gift you got? the BEST ideas! And best of all for Bestsy, she gets to think that she did it all by herself. (smile).

Happy Holidays to you, Besty!!!!!!

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh your posts make me laugh! My grandmother used to use this trick but I could never remember the actual "recipe"...so thanks for doing the research for me.

Kris said...

I just used salt and white vinegar to clean the sole plate on my iron. We're turning into such thrifty Yankees!

Connie said...

So glad you posted this recipe. I'm going to do it too!

Cindy said...

So THAT'S how you do it!! Cool! Thanks for showing the whole process... and you know, when the kids go back to school THEN it is the most wonderful time of the year!

Cindy

Anonymous said...

You make me laugh! Thanks for the tip and a good laugh. Love your blog! Jana in Texas

Leslee in Tennessee said...

Hmmm... would this work with copper as well? Or only silver? Does anyone know? Thanx

Connie@Connie Nikiforoff Designs said...

I'll have to try that next time I polish too! I would think this is preferable to any type of polish since polishing could theoretically cause some abrasion if not done properly(?) This is SO cool! Gotta try it next time!

As always, I get such a kick out of reading your blog ;-)

Donnamae said...

Thanks Betsy...now that you've tried it, I know it's safe! ;)

Anonymous said...

For Leslee in Tennesee...Here's from someone on the internet for copper cleaning.
"You can make a paste of equal parts of flour, vinegar, and salt, but I think it works just as well to pour on enough vinegar to coat the bottom of the pan, sprinkle on a little salt, and rub the tarnish away with a cloth."

Shingle Cottage said...

Oh wow Betsy this is amazing!!!
Thank you so much for blogging your science experiment i am so going to try this,i have silver that needs this so badly,
You have some beautiful,beautiful pieces!
x

Anonymous said...

daaaaa Betsy you could also line a big plastic dish pan with foil and put your bigger pieces in the hot water mix ya know!!! Nancy Settel

laney said...

...we most certainly did not forget you...in fact we were all sneaking off rereading your posts...about the silver trick/miracle...well...it does work...but sometimes too much...if you do this too many times you truly will ruin the patina on your silver...especially if it is old sterling...having said that...i have been known to do this in the bathtub for big serving platters...but...mainly i stick with wrights...blessings laney

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Betsy, it looks wonderful. It is just glistening. Gorgeous.

I have done this before, but I would be careful with any sterling that has the greying that is professinally applied, e.g. Francis 1st. Not sure what it would do to that.

That being said, I need to do this to a casserole dish I have. I wonder if you could use a big plastic tub like a storage container and up the recipe to be able to dip big pieces. We used Cape Cod silver polish on some spoons I gave someone for Christmas, and it worked like a charm. I read somewhere else that someone was using Colgate on silver. Never heard that one before, but I might try it and see.

Marian said...

Ain't science great? The drawback to this method is that you lose the tarnish that sticks in crevices and gives more dimension to designs. I remember someone calling this "Butler's Relief".

Patti said...

As I was polishing my silver on Christmas eve at 3pm with guests arriving at 5 pm, I wish I knew about this. Then I could procrastinate longer let the silver soak and get ready at the same time!

Leslee in Tennessee said...

Annonymous: Thanks for the info on cleaning the copper. Will keep it in mind for next time I clean/polish mine. Also, Ketchup (straight) takes the tarnish off, but nothing keeps it from returning almost immediately... I guess its just being exposed to the air. The 'magic' silver cleaning Betsey describes looks wonderful and so easy. Wish it would work so easily with copper. Thanks again very much for responding!

Anonymous said...

I just tried this and it really works! Thanks Betsy ;)

Anonymous said...

Betsy, you can also use a disposable foil aluminum baking pan instead of lining a bowl. I keep one available for this purpose. It works great!
Always love your posts.
Take care.
Emily

bmayer said...

Glad you tried it. the only drawback I've encountered is what someone else mentioned...it takes off too much of the tarnish in patterns that gives it that nice aged patina. Eh, I'll take easy, any day!

Anonymous said...

Now if I only could find backing soda......

hehehe

mo

Jaybird said...

ketchup or a cut lemon works on copper....
Thanks for the aluminum pan idea...they are cheap at $$ tree.....
Thank you Ms. Betsy for the silver cleaning advice. You are a miracle lady!!

Brenda said...

I just bought some old silver at a thrift store; can't wait to try this. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Did not work well for me. Are you using a certain type of foil? I am using Reynolds, but should I be using the heavy duty?

Sarah Said... said...

Interesting...I have read several blogs with this silver polishing method and in the posts I always see someone that says it didn't work for them...but no one ever responds to their out cry...Why not? I would make another great blog topic!

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