The foil and bicarbonate bath — and when not to use it
The method everyone shares online genuinely works. Line a heatproof bowl with aluminium foil, shiny side up. Lay the silver so each piece touches the foil. Add a generous spoonful of bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt, then pour over boiling water to cover. Within a minute or two the tarnish begins to transfer to the foil, and a faint sulphurous smell confirms it is working. Lift the pieces out with tongs, rinse in clean water and dry straight away and completely.
Now the warnings, because they matter more than the trick. Do not use this on anything with deliberate oxidation — the dark recesses in an antique pattern, a blackened chain, a piece where the shadows are part of the design — because it strips them and the piece goes flat and lifeless. Keep it away from pearls, opals, turquoise, amber, coral and anything glued or strung. Avoid it on silver-plated items where the plate is thin or already worn, and on anything with a hollow weighted handle, as knife handles are often filled and sealed with pitch that hot water can loosen. If a piece is genuinely old, valuable or sentimental, leave it alone and ask a jeweller or a specialist restorer.
