Cleaning jewelry with baking soda and aluminum foil and vinegar

Here's an explanation from scifun.org:

The tarnish-removal method used in this experiment uses a chemical reaction to convert the silver sulfide back into silver. Many metals in addition to silver form compounds with sulfur. Some of them have a greater affinity for sulfur than silver does. Aluminum is such a metal. In this experiment, the silver sulfide reacts with aluminum. In the reaction, sulfur atoms are transferred from silver to aluminum, freeing the silver metal and forming aluminum sulfide.

Since a small electric current is actually running between the silver and the aluminum, you're actually electro-plating the silver back onto the jewelry! The formula looks like this:

3 Ag2S + 2 Al → 6 Ag + Al2S3
silver sulfide + aluminum → silver + aluminum sulfide

I tried it with an all-silver pair of earrings as well as my crystal disco earrings, and it worked great on both. As soon as I placed them in the bowl, the solution started bubbling, showing that the chemical reaction was taking place. After a few minutes, I turned the earrings over, making sure that they were still touching the aluminum foil.

After about five minutes, the bubbles had stopped and the silver looked shiny.

I was thrilled – and only sorry that in my rush to get out the door to do my science program, I didn't think to set this up as a proper science experiment in its own right. If you want to try this at home, I suggest doing one earring, or half of one item item like a silver spoon, at a time, so you can compare them before and after.

As for me, all I can say is, thank goodness for science!

We’ve all opened a jewelry box and taken out a prized piece of jewelry only to discover that the metal has turned black. Silver items tarnish quickly, but there are many effective cleaning solutions to help bring your silver pieces back to a bright shine. We’ve examined jewelry cleaning recipes, and we learned that cleaning silver with vinegar is a safe and effortless way to remove tarnish.

Like lemon juice, vinegar is acidic, which results in a chemical reaction when it contacts tarnished silver. It makes the solution ideal for use as a silver cleaner. And, combining white vinegar with other common ingredients only increases its cleaning power.

Which vinegar-based silver polish is right for you? To help you decide, we’ve put together some suggestions on cleaning jewelry with vinegar. You can create all of the recipes in this list from everyday household items and make your silver polishing a breeze.

If you follow our recipes, you can learn how to clean silver jewelry with vinegar. From the simple to the complex, these cleaning recipes and tips will get your silver back in shape.

When Cleaning Silver with Vinegar, First Go Undiluted

Sometimes, the most straightforward methods are the best. If your silver pieces only have light tarnish, try using pure distilled white vinegar for cleaning.

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Simple Vinegar Soak

• A nonreactive container, such as an enamel bowl
• 1 cup of white vinegar
• A clean cloth

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Pour the vinegar into the container and place the jewelry or other silver items in it. Use enough vinegar to cover the silver items completely. Allow the articles to soak for at least 15 minutes. After the silver pieces have soaked, rinse under warm water, and dry with the cloth.

Soak Your Items in Vinegar and Baking Soda

If your silver pieces are too tarnished to be cleaned with pure vinegar, you can strengthen your vinegar’s cleaning power by adding baking soda. Baking soda, also called bicarbonate of soda, reacts with vinegar to produce a mildly caustic solution. Tarnished silver cleans right up when soaked in a vinegar and baking soda solution.

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Vinegar and Baking Soda Cleaning Solution

• A nonreactive container
• 1 cup of white vinegar
• 4 tbsp baking soda
• A clean cloth

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Pour the vinegar into the container. Add the baking soda carefully to avoid overflow from the chemical reaction. Add the silver pieces and let the items soak for two or three hours. Rinse the items in warm water and dry them.

Make a Silver Polish from Tea Tree Oil, Vinegar, and Baking soda

If vinegar and baking soda still leave your silver with heavy tarnish, add tea tree oil. A valuable essential oil, tea tree oil doesn’t just smell great; it makes a dynamite cleaning agent. You don’t need much of it to make a big difference, either. A drop or two does the trick.

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Tea Tree Oil, Vinegar, and Baking Soda Mixture

• A jar or other container
• Vinegar
• 1 drop tea tree oil
• Baking soda as needed
• An old toothbrush
• A clean cloth

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Pour the vinegar into the jar and add the tea tree oil. Place your silver items in the vinegar and oil mixture, and soak for at least eight hours. Remove the items from the vinegar.

Coat the silver with baking soda and gently scrub. The long soak should loosen all residue, allowing the baking soda scrub to clean it away. Rinse the pieces in warm water and dry them.

Scrub Your Silver with a Vinegar and Ketchup Mix

It might seem odd to clean silver with ketchup, but a vinegar and ketchup solution is a reliable way to polish silver. The ketchup makes the cleaning solution more acidic and gives the mixture some extra cleaning oomph.

Because of the solution’s acidity, keep an eye on your jewelry during the cleaning process to make sure you don’t accidentally clean off the top layer of silver along with the tarnish.

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Vinegar and Ketchup Silver Polish Recipe

• A nonreactive container
• ½ cup white vinegar
• ½ cup ketchup
• An old toothbrush
• A soft cloth

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Combine the vinegar and ketchup in the bowl. Submerge the jewelry in the mix for five to ten minutes. Remove the silver items, coat the toothbrush in the cleaning mixture, and gently scrub the silver pieces until the tarnish is gone. Use warm water to rinse the silver and dry.

You can use vinegar alone or with ketchup as a way of cleaning brass jewelry, too. Instead of submerging your brass jewelry in the cleaner like you do for silver, rub a little bit of the mixture on your brass pieces instead. Rinse clean and wipe dry with a soft cloth.

Try Cleaning Jewelry with Vinegar and Toothpaste

Paste toothpaste can contain grit as a scrubbing agent, which means it can leave scratches on pure silver or gold. However, you can to use it to clean plated silver items such as sterling silver, costume jewelry, or for cleaning fake silver jewelry. The vinegar cleans off tarnish, smudges, body oils, and other gunk that may mar the appearance of your silver.

To ensure that this recipe will not harm your jewelry pieces it is always a good idea to test the cleaning process on an inconspicuous area before cleaning the entire piece.

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Toothpaste and Vinegar Method

• A jar or other vessel
• 1 cup of white vinegar
• Toothpaste
• An old toothbrush
• A clean cloth

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Coat the bristles in toothpaste, and gently scrub the jewelry, After a few minutes, rinse in warm water. Soak the items in vinegar for five to ten minutes. Rinse the pieces again and dry them.

Give Your Silver New Shine with a Water, Salt, Vinegar, Baking Soda, and Foil Solution

When it comes to silver cleaning, ion exchange is your friend. Ion exchange is a molecule transfer from one object to another. In this case, the salt and vinegar mixture forces an ion exchange between silver and the foil. Silver molecules move to the foil, leaving a bright and clean surface behind.

This method is so effective that it will clean raised designs, as well, so be careful when using this process on decorated silver unless you don’t mind losing some design detail.

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Vinegar and Foil Cleaning

• A nonreactive bowl
• A small saucepan
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• ½ cup white vinegar
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 1 sheet aluminum foil or tinfoil
• A clean cloth

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Add the water to the pan and heat until boiling. Place the foil in the bowl with the shiny side facing up. Pour the salt and baking soda on top of the foil.

Carefully add the vinegar, and then mix the bowl’s ingredients until they dissolve. Add the boiling water, and use tongs to drop in the silver pieces. Once the silver is clean, remove the pieces with tongs. Dry and buff them with the cloth.

Clean Your Silver Jewelry with a Vinegar Pickle

In this instance, a pickle is not a cucumber soaked in brine. Instead, it’s a liquid compound that removes residue from jewelry.

A pickle might be the best silver cleaner you can make with vinegar. It cuts through rust and dirt like a dream, and it eliminates silver tarnish with ease. However, a pickle is a powerful cleaning agent, so you must follow safety precautions to avoid injury.

Because tap water contains solids that can react with the vinegar and reduce the pickle’s effectiveness, only use distilled water in the mixture. To avoid an energetic reaction, be sure to add the vinegar to the water and salt, and not vice versa.

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Vinegar Pickle Recipe

• Safety mask
• Safety gloves
• A large pot (not used for food preparation)
• 1 cup distilled water
• ½ cup white vinegar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• A soft cloth

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Don the safety gear and combine the water and salt. Then add the vinegar. Put the pot on the stove, and heat the liquid until it is just below a boil. Add the silver items to the liquid, and soak them until clean. Remove the silver pieces from the pickle with tongs, rinse them in warm water, and dry them thoroughly.

How Do I Know which Cleaning Choice I Should Use?

Generally, always use the easiest and safest option that still gets the job done. If vinegar by itself doesn’t clean your silver, move up in increments.

There are many other jewelry cleaner recipes out there, as well. In the end, of course, you must decide which option works for your particular situation.

Vinegar is effective at cleaning many metals other than silver. However, some metals don’t require mixtures with the same strength that silver needs. For example, a vinegar pickle would not be the best way to clean pewter.

Vinegar is not always the best solution for cleaning silver plate either. For cleaning silver plated items, it’s better to use baking soda, aluminum foil, and salt because it is gentler on the plated surface.

When in doubt about cleaning silver or another metal, always do adequate research before cleaning a metal. It’s much easier to damage a piece of fine jewelry than it is to repair it.

The recipes we’ve provided will clean and shine your jewelry and silver. Not only that, but vinegar protects against disease. A study of household cleaners found that vinegar completely deactivates and eliminates the influenza virus (..).

We hope that you enjoyed reading our recipes and tips for cleaning silver with vinegar. These cleaning recipes are time-tested, and we have found them to be simple and effective. Follow these instructions, and enjoy your gorgeous, brilliant silver!

If you found this article on cleaning silver with vinegar to be useful, please share these jewelry cleaning tips on Pinterest and Facebook.

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