Shining Copper and Silver at home

Copper utensils look lovely on the table as serving bowls. They have to be maintained to a shiny newness always. It is not difficult to do so if you follow these tips:

Cut lemon into half and put some table salt on the cut side of the lemon and rub it over the copper vessels. The salt will act as abrasive while the lemon will help to remove out the tarnish. You can combine together the lemon juice and salt and apply this paste on the copper vessels using a soft cloth. Rinse with warm water and wipe dry.

• Soak the copper pots in a soapy solution overnight so that any stubborn food particles or grease will come out easily.
• Do not use a steel scrubber while cleaning copper utensils. Most copper utensils have an inner lining of metal which prevents the food from coming in direct contact with copper. Direct contact of copper with food can spoil the food making it hazardous to health.
• Clean tarnished utensils by placing them in boiling water with white vinegar added in it. Boil for several hours. Rinse these utensils with soap and water. Wipe dry and use.

Lemon juice, eggs, salt and salad dressings are the worst offenders in causing your silver utensils to tarnish if they are allowed to remain on for a long period of time after each meal. It is easy to clean silver. Let us use some science at home! Have ready:

• Sheet of aluminum foil
• Hot water
• Baking soda
• Table salt
• A pan/baking tray

Place a sheet of aluminum foil on top of a baking tray, put the tarnished silverware on top of the sheet. Make sure that all the silver utensils are in contact with the foil. Heat up some water and add it to this pan making sure that the silver articles are fully immersed in the water. Add table salt to hot water. Add a cup of fresh baking soda in hot water and allow it to dissolve. Pour this baking soda solution over the utensils making sure that the contact between utensils and aluminum foil is not broken. See the tarnish disappearing. Remove the articles after the water is cool and wipe the articles dry.