How to: Keeping Silver Bright

We love silver but we hate polishing it. We use it every day so we like to keep it in the drawer. But we were at a loss as how to keep it shiny and avoid the dreaded task. Until we heard that keeping a few sticks of chalk in the drawer with our knives, forks and spoons would slow down the process. Now our silver stays bright and shiny and we never have to polish it anymore. Which lets us enjoy our silver even more.

How does it work? The chalk absorbs the moisture that is in the area that the silverware is being kept, thus slowing down the tarnishing process. You could additionally use charcoal wrapped in cheese cloth or a moisture absorbing product for the closet to the same effect.

-Abby

Comments (8)

Huh. How about that. I would have never guessed.

GREAT tip. when u say charcoal - just any piece of charcoal? like the one used for the grill?

Silverware tarnishes when it's exposed to air. I separate the knives, spoons, and forks, stack them neatly, and wrap them as tightly as I can in thick plastic. They barely tarnish at all.

You can purchase silver cloth at most fabric stores, and I've found that while it doesn't eliminate polishing entirely, lining the drawer or the individual compartments with it drastically reduces the need for regular, full-on polishing.

Love that silver pattern...what is it?

If you use the foil and soda approach (ala the realsimple article), make sure you're cleaning sterling, rather than silver plated. I made that mistake once and the silver plating came right off the item.

I take a perverse pleasure in always using one of my antique silver spoons to dish out the cats food from the tin - it makes me feel all Grey Gardens and decadent