How Baking Soda Cleans Tarnish off Silver Products.

 If you've worn silver jewelry, you already know how tarnished it can get within a very short period of time. We all know about silver polish, but did you know that  polishing can actually scrubs silver off the surface of your  treasured jewelry. It can be especially detrimental for silver-plated pieces,  as there is generally a very thin layer of silver.  Another problem with using silver polish products is that it is very hard to clean all the nooks and crannies in your jewelry. The cleaning technique we’re about to show you is not only  a simple and effective method of cleaning tarnish off silver objects but will also make a great science project for your child.    

Necessary Tools and supplies  

  Aluminum foil               Baking soda

 

 Washing soda                          Boiling water

 

 

Preparation  

1. Line the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil. You may also use a disposable aluminum pan.  
2. Place silver jewelry or any silver object in the aluminum pan, making sure the silver touches the aluminum.  
3. Pour boiling water into the pan until the object is completely covered.  
4. Add about baking soda or washing soda.  (We suggest about 1/4 cup per liter or 1 cup per gallon of water).  

What will happen?  

As you add the baking soda, the mixture may froth a bit, be careful not to let it spill over.  Keep the silver submerge for at least 5 minutes. The tarnish will begin to disappear quickly.  For badly tarnished silver, you may need to repeat this process several times to remove all traces of tarnish. We recommend using washing soda over baking soda as it is much more effective in removing tarnish from silver. As a science project, this would be a good experiment to compare both products.   

How does it work?  

WASHING SODA (SODIUM CARBONATE) or Baking Soda (SODIUM BICARBONATE) is very effective in removing silver tarnish. First, we need to understand how and why silver tarnishes.  When silver is left in the open, it undergoes a chemical reaction with sulfur-containing substances in the air. Silver combines with sulfur to form a chemical called silver sulfide. This is the black tarnish you find on silver.  If you remove the silver sulfide, the silver will be brought back to its original shine.   

Oxidization is when a molecule loses electrons.  Aluminum has lower ionization energy than silver.   When the aluminum is oxidized, the silver gains the electrons. Depending on the severity of the tarnish silver jewelry, you will find the silver will be bright and the aluminum foil may be brown with tarnish.  The silver tarnish is "transferred" to the aluminum via a chemical reaction. To be effective, the silver and aluminum must be in contact with each other because a small electric current flows between them during the chemical reaction. This type of reaction is called an electrochemical reaction involves an electric current because atoms are charged.