Shine your holiday: Easy ways to clean festive cutlery
As the holidays approach, work is in full swing, not just in the kitchen. Special tableware and cutlery reserved for these occasions are brought out of storage, and it's important to ensure they sparkle with cleanliness.
Keeping holiday cutlery clean can be a challenge. Because they are rarely used, they tend to gather dust and grime. How can you clean them so your guests can enjoy holiday meals without concern?
Fortunately, home remedies can quickly restore their shine. With minimal effort and low cost, you can make them look new again.
How to clean cutlery?
Many of us have sets of cutlery we use only for special occasions, such as Christmas. Silver tableware, while lovely, can tarnish quickly. When this happens, you can use aluminium foil and salt from your kitchen.
To start, place a piece of aluminium foil at the bottom of a bowl, add about 115 grams of iodized salt, and pour boiling water over it. Soak the cutlery in the solution for about an hour. Afterward, rinse them with water and dry them. This method effectively removes tarnish due to the chemical reaction between silver and aluminium. When silver, aluminium foil, and baking soda are immersed in hot water, a process of electrolysis occurs. In simple terms, electrons flow between the silver and aluminium foil, removing the dark tarnish covering the silver.
Hhomemade cleaning paste
If the cutlery is heavily soiled, prepare a paste from lemon juice and baking soda. Apply it to the cutlery using a soft-bristle brush, wait for 15 minutes, then gently scrub them. Finally, rinse off the paste thoroughly, and carefully wipe and polish the cutlery.
You can achieve a similar result using toothpaste, provided it’s free of microbeads. Apply the toothpaste to a brush and polish the cutlery. After a few minutes, thoroughly rinse off any remaining paste and dry the cutlery.
