The amazing food genius, Alton Brown, is at it again. If your silver julep cups, silver platters, or even sterling silver jewelry are not looking their greatest, it’s time to bust out your silver-shining skills with this ingenious tip. Grab up a bowl and line it with aluminum foil. Toss in 1/4 cup of baking soda and your silver items into the lined bowl. Boil some water on your stovetop, and pour the water over the baking soda and your silver items. Allow your silver pieces to cool and give ‘em a good washing before use. Goodbye Tarnish, Hello Shine. Make sure if you do use this trick with your jewelry to exercise a bit of caution depending on the stones. The boiling water could cause thermal shock—damaging your pieces. The science behind it is pretty awesome. Basically, with this method, the black tarnish (silver sulfide) converts back to silver thanks to the chemical-swapping reaction of baking soda, hot water and aluminum. With silver polish, you’re actually removing silver along with the silver sulfide (tarnish). Click here to learn more about what this reaction does from the website, Science is Fun, by University of Wisconsin-Madison Chemistry Professor Bassam Z. Shakhashiri.
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