A Lazy Lady Polishes Her Silver

You may already know that I've got a
boatload of old silverplated flatware.  

I love the stuff.

I hate to polish it.

With our daughter's wedding coming up in fewer than 5 weeks,

I want even my mismatched old silverware in its best bib and tucker for the occasion.

Leave me out in the air, and I wrinkle.

Leave silver out in the air, and it tarnishes.

It just happens, y'know?

But at least for the silver, there are remedies.

Below, The Lazy Lady's Silver Polishing treatment has begun for some pieces,

while their tarnished relatives wait patiently alongside the hot tub.

Welcome to The Lazy Lady's Silver Polishing Club.

All you need to join are some bits of silver.

Line them up like meek little lambs in a disposable aluminum pan.
(You can also line a non-reactive pan with aluminum foil.  I find the pan is easier.  I'm all about easy.)

Membership in this Club is free, or pretty darned close to it,

because the only thing you need to buy is a big box of this stuff, which is cheap:

Generously sprinkle baking soda over your waiting victims flatware.

And put the kettle on to boil.

It's not tea time.  Pour the boiling water over the baking-soda-covered flatware.

It will bubble up most gratifyingly, then settle down.

Walk away, put your feet up, have a cuppa, come back in a little while when it's not blistering hot.

Fish the flatware out of the aluminum pan, and rinse it in the sink.

Take an old, soft towel, and dry each piece, giving a quick light buffing to really bring out the shine.

And you are done.

Your old tarnished flatware can join its gleaming relatives,
where they will all admire one another's brilliance.

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I didn't invent this method; it's been around for a long time. Even Martha Stewart has instructions for it on her web site.  It's a chemical reaction; the baking soda in water transfers the tarnish from the silver to the aluminum.

When you pour the boiling water over, you will smell tarnish -- you know that unpleasant metallic smell that settles in your nostrils?  And when the polishing is over, the pan or foil you used will be dark with tarnish, so you won't want to use that disposable pan for a batch of brownies to take to the church coffee hour.  Ick.  Save it for silver polishing!

Silver is hard to photograph.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, some pieces look dark; they are not.

One warning:  If you have valuable antique pieces, or other pieces that are purposefully antiqued, or you are particularly fond of a darkened patina on some of your silver, don't use this method.  It really polishes and cleans too well for that; you may lose those darkened areas, the ones that highlight any raised areas.  I haven't explained that very well, but you know what I mean!

Next project:  A furniture arrangement for our parlor;
we can't come up with a decent one.  It's just not working!   -- Cass