Silver is beautiful, but unless it is used significantly, you’ll find silver is a lot more work than you anticipated.

Over the centuries, owning silver dishware was a sign of status, and it wasn’t uncommon to dedicate an entire day to polishing the silver every week. When not in use, it was usually stored away in a secure area of the home. Because of its elements, silver must be polished to remove the tarnish.

Searching the Internet, we found a list of items that can be used to clean silver:

• Heat-proof glass or plastic dish
• Aluminum foil
• Baking soda
• Table salt
• Clean, soft cloth
• Toothpaste

And that’s just a start.

There are also silver polishes on the market, but none of them will tell you what the ingredients are. However, most of the silver polishes are toxic. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency lists it as Hazardous Household Waste as they contain strong acids (they do offer their own alternative cleaning solutions as well).

Why do people go through all this effort just for silver? Is it worth it? Take a look at our aluminum collection and see what new favorites you can find that will stand the test of time.