Remove tarnish from sterling silver.

We've included tips for easily removing tarnish from sterling silver, using common household products.

Efficiency is vital to our success, so we are always on the lookout for faster, more reliable methods to work with our metals. In doing so, we came across an article on removing tarnish from sterling in Reader's Digest. We made a few tweaks to improve the process for our chains.

1) Add a ball of aluminum, roughly baseball size, to a small saucepan filled with water.

2) Bring water to a rolling boil.

3) Add 1 tbsp of baking soda, but be prepared for the water to spit and sputter.

CAUTION: Water will be hot, so take care to avoid being burned.

4) Dip the silver in for 20 seconds using tongs.

5) When the tarnish is gone, rinse the piece with water and dry with a cloth.

We have hard water in our state, so if you live in a region with soft water, the Reader's Digest version may work better for you.

If you try either of these methods, I'd love to hear from you.