Polishing Silver... A Thing of the Past?!

When my daughter received her Holy First Communion earlier in this year, I found the cross I received from my parents when I celebrated my First Communion. Because I'm such a crafty chick, I decided to do something a little different. A hand-made rosary, using the cross from my Communion. But... The cross looked nasty!  The silver was totally black when I took it out. I tried to polish it with  a white cloth but nothing came off. I don't have any experience with polishing silver, I was stumped!

I called my grandma later that week just to say "hi". Some where in that conversation I mentioned the tarnish issue I was having. Then, she gave me very cool advice on how to clean any silver. I'm not a chemist, so I'm not really sure how it works, but it does and it so easy!!  These are the directions she gave me:

Here's what you need

Glass bowl

Aluminum foil

Baking soda

Boiling water

Toothbrush ( for cleaning the tight spots)

White cotton rag 

What to do

Line the glass bowl with aluminum foil. Then put your silver in the bowl lined with foil. Bring about a cup of water to a boil. While the water is heating up, sprinkle baking soda over the silver. Make sure the silver is covered with the baking soda. Now, pour the boiling water into the bowl. Let it set until the water is cooled, moving & flipping the silver every so often. After the water is cooled off, you can use the toothbrush to remove any debris from tight corners. Then, just buff it spotless with the white cotton rag. 

Some sort of chemical reaction takes place. You will see small bubbles appear on the silver. The reaction also gives  off a sulfur odor. I have only used this on my jewelry, but I imagine it would make polishing a set of silver utensils a breeze!