How can I remove tarnish without using toxic and damaging chemicals?
Tarnish – the dark spots that spread across sterling silver – is like rust on your jewelry. There are several ways to remove it, but the least damaging is something you can easily do at home with a glass dish, hot water, baking soda, and aluminum foil. Place a piece of aluminum foil in the bottom of a shallow dish. (I use a glass baking dish.) Set the tarnished item directly on the aluminum foil; it has to be in contact with the aluminum. Heat a quart of water to boiling in a saucepan, then set it in the sink and slowly add 1/4 cup baking soda. Be careful, because it might fizz up and spill over, which is why you add the baking soda slowly & in the sink. Stir until the baking soda is dissolved. Pour the water into the dish until the tarnished item is immersed. Slightly tarnished pieces will return to silver almost instantly; badly tarnished items will take longer. You can also use this for flatware or silver/silverplated dishes. Very badly tarnished pieces will look ruined and scare th
