Shining silver jewellery can be quite difficult, time consuming and harmful to your health. While we all often resort to chemicals to shine our silver ware, the chemicals that are used can be quite corrosive and may not only leave your hands with rashes or allergic reactions but the fumes that are emitted can harm your nose and lungs (if inhaled in a large quantity), can make your eyes water and affect your breathing. Apart from that, the trace amounts of these chemicals present on your silver jewellery can cause allergic reactions as well. So to help you beat all these ill effects of using chemical silver polishing here are a few natural ways to clean your silver jewellery.
What are the healthy alternatives?
Tamarind: The acidic nature of tamarind (imli) works well to remove the tarnish from your silver ware. All you need to do is take a small piece of tamarind and soak it in some water so that it softens. Now rub the piece of tamarind on the jewellery and keep scrubbing till you see the tarnish vanish. Once this is done, wash the silver under tap water and use some gentle soap to remove the excess tamarind residue.
Toothpaste: Toothpaste not only helps clean your teeth but is also a great way to shine silver. The down side of this method is that some toothpastes may contain baking soda that might may be too abrasive for delicate jewellery. If you do want to use this method, take a small amount of toothpaste (about the size of a pea should suffice for earrings and jewellery but for larger pieces of silver ware you may need to increase the amount of toothpaste) on an old soft toothbrush. Now wet the piece of jewellery and use the toothbrush to rub the toothpaste on the piece of jewellery. Once the toothpaste has spread properly, use your wet fingers to scrub it clean. Once all the tarnish is gone wash it under some room temperature water.
Lemon and salt: Salt with some lemon creates a highly acidic solution which wont harm your hands but will clean your silver ware. Apart from that, it is one of the best ways to clean silver diyas with oil residue in them, as the lemon helps get rid of the oil and cleans the surface as well. Again in this method the salt crystals may scratch the surface of delicate silver ware so beware before you use it. A way to work around this is to take the juice of half a lemon and add a spoon of salt to it. Mix it well to dissolve the salt crystals so that they don’t scratch the surface. Now take some of this juice and with a soft cotton cloth and apply it on the piece of jewellery and clean it using a soft toothbrush. Once all the tarnish has gone, wash it under room temperature water.
Baking soda and water: This is again not suitable for silver that is delicate. All you need to do is take a tablespoon of baking soda and add enough water to it to make a paste. Now soak a piece of soft cotton cloth in the solution and them scrub the silver ware you want to clean till the tarnish vanishes. Once it is clean, wash it under some room temperature water.
Originally published on www.thehealthsite.com
