Non-Toxic Tips for Cleaning Household Metal
As the sun moves through its yearly apex, the bright rays shine through my windows and bring light to all those dirty little things I was able to ignore in the darker winter months. There are great tips all over EcoSalon for naturally removing the nitty gritty from your kitchen and your clothes. But now I need to polish my silver earrings, shine my Tibetan singing bowl and make my iron skillet look pretty enough to cook in again.
Here are some old-fashioned, non-toxic ways to clean metal:
Iron: Scrub down your iron item with a little water and some steel wool. Once it’s clean, let it dry completely and rub in a little oil to keep it from rusting again.
Silver: Make a paste out of baking soda and water. Leave it on the silver for a minute, rinse with hot water and polish! If your silver is heavily tarnished, leave the paste on for an hour.
Pewter: Pewter can be washed in warm, soapy water and then polished clean.
Chrome: A lot of places recommend cleaning chrome with diluted ammonia, but that’s not something I want to keep around my house. Try rubbing the chrome with a piece of aluminum foil dipped in white vinegar instead.
Brass and Copper: Years ago a friend recommended ketchup for cleaning my copper bracelet, and it worked! It’s the acidity that does the cleaning, so a mix of lemon juice and baking soda will do the trick. If the tarnish is too heavy, soak your items in hot vinegar and salt until you see the shine, then take it out and rinse.
Et voila! Sit back and enjoy the shine, chemical free!
Image: Jones G Gallery
via The Good Human
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3 Comments
June 26th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Yes, I like that. Make do with friendlier stuff.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:11 am
Thanks for the tips. Just recently purchased Revereware with copper bottoms. Brasso leaves a heavy chemical smell. So lemon juice and baking soda or vinegar are the miracle cure for UGLY BOTTOMS. I’ll try it.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Just the kind of information I was looking for (how to clean silver & brass). Thanks for the help.
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