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Rub a banana peel over your silverware and see what happens

silverware

No need for expensive silver polish; banana peel is the perfect solution!

After a while, silver becomes a little less pretty. Dark stains appear on the silverware or on your silver jewellery. But how and why does this happen exactly? And, more importantly: how do we make sure those stains disappear and our silverware shines like never before? With this simple, fruity solution, it’ll be done in a jiffy!

All you need for this homemade silver polish is a banana peel!

Silverware

Silver is a precious metal that usually doesn’t have that much trouble with oxidation. Yet some of the precious metals are more ‘precious’ than others. As you know, silver is pretty quick to develop a black film or dark stains. This is different from copper, which goes green after a while. Luckily, both precious metals are very easy to polish up again, which means they’ll shine like never before afterwards.

Oxidation

When silver comes into contact with hydrogen sulfide (known for its smell like rotten eggs), it starts to oxidise. Hydrogen sulfide is perpetually in the air or on our hands. The reaction between silver and hydrogen sulfide is often very quick. It develops when proteins are broken down by bacteria. The reaction between the silver and the hydrogen sulfide is what causes the black film or the dark stains. This is often called silver sulfide.

Want to know how you can polish your tarnished silver with just a banana peel? Go to the next page, where you will also find a helpful video!

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