Shine On

Good Friday folks!

After a morning of fog it is nearly perfect here this afternoon!  It doesn't get much better than this for mid-March.  Recently in my thrifting I have been fortunate enough to find some pretty silver footed bowls.  I have another a rather weird obsession with bowls, be they wood or metal.  I love having them around and filling them with fun objects.  Like seashells, potpourri, baseballs, marbles...you get the idea.  To be honest I love the silver bowls with a nice patina on them.   They make me think of lovely vintage trophies you see on display at the schools, which I'd love to find while I'm out digging for treasure by the way.  Sometimes I find that some pieces of silver have a tarnish that translates to a spotty hot mess.  You can literally see the fingerprints of all who have ever handled them.  I seriously regret not taking a before picture of my little bowls, but here is one that has a nice mellow patina.  Imagine that the dark color was covering it like chicken pox! 

I plan to leave this bowl as is, in case someone else appreciates the been around for a while look.

I searched for a solution to clean  up two other bowls without having to buy another "super chemical" cleaner like many of those out on the market.  Here is what I found, and I was amazed by both the simplicity and the results. 

Simply use a large stock pot, line the bottom with a sheet of foil.  Fill it with enough water that it will cover your item when it is submerged.  Bring the water to a boil.  After my water began to boil I just turned the burner off as it will stay hot quite long enough to work with.  I worked with one bowl at a time and submerged it carefully with some rubber tipped tongs so as not to scratch the finish.  Then I sprinkled on the magic dust (baking soda).  I repeated the baking soda sprinkling until I was seeing the results I wanted.  It did not take much, nor did it take long.  It seems the chemical reaction of the baking soda releases the tarnish and the foil at the bottom of your pot attracts it.  When I cleaned one bowl I replaced the water and foil and repeated the process.  After removing a bowl I'd rinse it thoroughly with water and dry it off completely.  See the results here.

They look line new don't they? 

Look at the baseballs reflected inside!  So there you have it a little tip for the weekend if you have any "too tarnished" pieces to work on.  Beats all that hand polishing!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! 

Deb