It's about the silver polish....

the best polishing tool ever is the ENJO silver polish fibre...without ANY chemical it removes tarnish and makes the silver shine. I can hardly believe I ever used that super-toxic stuff...bad for us, bad for the world.

Debra, I can't believe you didn't mention your own "recipe" for cleaning silver, found in your books!

I use the combination of aluminum foil and baking soda, and find it works great for lightly tarnished, immersible silver items.

Silver Soak

This is a clean, low-cost alternative to chemical silver cleaners. All you do is soak your silver items in this solution until they are clean.

4 cups very warm water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sheets of aluminum foil

Place one piece of aluminum on the bottom of a glass 9 x 10 baking dish. Combine the water, baking soda and salt and pour into dish. Place the silver in the dish and cover with the other piece of aluminum. Make sure that the silver is submerged in the solution.

Allow the silver to sit for 5 minutes. You will see the tarnish disappear from the items and move to the foil. Rinse well. It even removes the tarnish from tiny nooks and crannies!!

Keep replacing the foil as needed when they turn black.

I use plain white toothpaste to clean my silver. (The old type of toothpaste- not the gels or whitening formulas just the plain white toothpaste. I think the box says "regular paste". It does have a scent to it so I just open the windows when using it and it hasn't bothered me.

I just purchased an antique set of flatware than is silver plated. How do I remove the tarnish without eating through the silver plate? Thank you so much for any input you can provide.

I am an Executive Chef and I have tried every method and, yes, most cleaners are toxic. We have used Silvermate liquid silver cleaner for 15 years at our Grand Hyatt and it is mild enough to use your bare hands in it and it only takes a few seconds to clean and polish a piece of silver without any scrubbing. i hope this helps. Chef M.

Some where I saw an article that said use baking soda. I tried it on two heavily tarnished spoons. Works, a little slowly and with a bit of elbow grease...but most of us need the exercise. I got most of it off the first time around....will do a little more next time I wash dishes.

My mother had silverplate silverware and used it all the time and it didn't tarnish....I think we just always used it and it stayed OK. I am switching from stainless to silverplate for health reasons and think I will just get enough out of the box to keep it all being regularily used and see if I have as much luck as may mother and grandmother had.

Any non-toxic toothpaste (paste - not gel) will work.

I use a toothbrush slightly moistened with water and some toothpaste and scrub the silver with that. Or one can use a cloth with water and toothpaste.
it works like magic (beware commercial toothpaste which is pretty nasty - I use only the safer kinds).

Rinse with water or safe soap and water afterwards.

This is a great use for when you get to the end of a tube of toothpaste - simply cut it open and rub cloth or brush in the leftovers and polish your silver with it!