# Cleaning Sterling silver. No Tarn-X available.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-sterling-silver-no-tarn-x-available/588305>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 8, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-sterling-silver-no-tarn-x-available/588305 "2011-07-08T13:30:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-sterling-silver-no-tarn-x-available/588305/1 "2011-07-08T13:30:00Z")

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I’ve been wearing 2 silver pendants for 26 years and they always looked great. About a month ago I noticed they’re all brown and black. Never take them off so no idea on the cause. Anyway, can’t afford the good stuff and no Brillo pads. An tips?

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**Author:** ![RoniaBorkason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RoniaBorkason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoniaBorkason)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-sterling-silver-no-tarn-x-available/588305/2 "2011-07-08T13:45:11Z")

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Toothpaste. The old-fashioned paste kind, not gel. Rub it on with a cloth (I’ve used microfiber, but it shouldn’t matter much) until they’re clean. Yay, minty fresh jewelry!

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-sterling-silver-no-tarn-x-available/588305/3 "2011-07-08T13:58:40Z")

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Yep, toothpaste will work. So will a stainless steel cleaner like Barkeeper’s Friend or Cameo with a little water.

If the jewelry has lots of nooks and crannies that are hard to polish by hand, you can make a polishing bath by putting a sheet of aluminum foil in the bottom of a glass baking dish, then adding very hot water, a couple teaspoons salt and baking soda. Then put the silver pieces on the foil. This creates an electric current which will, by some process I don’t understand, clean the tarnish off even the deepest crevices.

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**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-sterling-silver-no-tarn-x-available/588305/4 "2011-07-08T14:53:58Z")

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For some unknown reason the toothpaste rings a bell. One is a crucifix so I’ll have to use a toothbrush. I’ll report results later. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-sterling-silver-no-tarn-x-available/588305/5 "2011-07-08T16:09:18Z")

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Google silver cleaning with baking soda (+ hot water) - very easy fast and safe. Chemically detaches the tarnish oxidation without removing any silver.

The reason that your silver may have tarnished so fast is any exposure to sulfur compounds causes the silver to tarnish. Many homes that have well water have sulfur water, which may cause the tarnishing.