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.

posted by gretchen on February 8th 2008 at 9:18am
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This works really well, too:

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/0,21770,1123016,00.html

posted by meg_ues on February 8th 2008 at 9:33am
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GREAT tip. when u say charcoal - just any piece of charcoal? like the one used for the grill?

posted by Anusha73 on February 8th 2008 at 9:56am
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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.

posted by smile on February 8th 2008 at 9:56am
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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.

posted by splatgirl on February 8th 2008 at 11:25am
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Love that silver pattern...what is it?

posted by mschatelaine on February 8th 2008 at 12:52pm
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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.

posted by cupofjoe on February 8th 2008 at 4:03pm
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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

posted by Violetsrose on February 11th 2008 at 3:53am
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