An Experiment in Green Cleaning

Homecoming weekend, the teen wanted to go through my jewelry to see if I had anything she could wear with her silver dress.  I actually have some silver jewelry....which I pulled out and discovered that it was long past cleaning time.  It was all black.  Oooops.

I had recently read a blog post at Down to Earth on Green Cleaners. One of the cleaners was for silver.  I have seen this in other books and such but had never tried it. Each time I had pulled out the silver cleaner and coated the jewelry, let it dry, and then rubbed the heck out of it to get the black tarnish off.  This green method promised a no rub, earth friendly version.

I decided it was time to give it a try since I am out of silver cleaner and don't want to go buy any with a possible move on the horizon (as the movers won't pack cleaners).  I do have to admit that I really didn't think it would work.

So, following the directions on Rhonda's site here's how it went.....

Line the sink with tin foil.  Hubs was cooking up a storm in the kitchen so I used the bathroom.

Put all the crazy black jewelry on the tin foil and just cover with boiling water.

Add a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of baking soda (bicarb).

The reaction is almost immediate! Way cool.

Let sit for ten minutes then take jewelry out and dry.  She the water? After ten minutes it was a grey color.

And the finished product?

So tell me, why did we ever start buying silver cleaner???  Start to finish it took maybe 20 minutes.  Not a single harsh chemical.

So if you've got some silver jewelry stuck in the back of the jewelry box somewhere waiting for a cleaning, take 20 minutes and do this. So worth it.