Sterling silver jewelry tarnishes easily because it contains copper. Copper strengthens silver, but it binds with sulfur particles present in the air and produces silver sulfide, which is the black coating that appears on silver jewelry after a while.
This simple activity cleans jewelry through a chemical reaction between aluminum foil, baking soda, and silver patina.
Clean jewelry with aluminum, baking soda and boiling water
You will need
A small container
Foil
250 ml of boiling water
2 tablespoons of baking soda
Spoon
1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Place the foil inside the container with the shiny side facing up.
Pour the boiling water over the foil.
Add the baking soda and salt and mix well.
Place the jewelry in the container so that it is completely covered by the water and touching the aluminum foil.
Let it sit for about 10 minutes and your jewelry should shine again.
How does it work?
The black patina on silver jewelry is silver sulfide, which is created when sulfur binds to silver. However, while sulfur binds easily to silver, it binds even more easily to aluminum. The aluminum acts as a reducing agent, donating electrons to the silver from the silver sulfide, reducing it back to silver. This is an example of an electrochemical reaction. A small electric current flows between the silver and aluminum during the reaction.
Why use boiling water and salt?
Boiling water is used to speed up the reaction.
Salt is added to help the aluminum electrons reach the silver.
This jewelry cleaning method only works on silver. DO NOT try it on other metals.
Last updated on September 12, 2024 by Emma Vanstone
