How to clean cupronickel cutlery at home?

In every house, there will probably be at least one item made of cupronickel. And those who have such devices know how difficult it is to clean them from darkening. But, unfortunately, not everyone has an idea of ​​how to clean cupronickel cutlery at home in order to spend a minimum of time on this. In this article, we will try to describe as thoroughly as possible how this can be done.

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Twelve rules for the care of cupronickel

To cupronickel spoons always sparkled clean, it is not at all necessary to buy expensive special products and spend a lot of time. All this can be done with the help of improvised universal tools that are always in every home.

Soda

Products from cupronickel, which have a low degree of contamination, it will be enough after washing just rinse in a solution of soda. It is prepared in a proportion of 50 grams of soda per 1 liter of water.

Important! Such rinsing is recommended after each use of products from cupronickel. Then you do not have to search for an answer to the question of how to clean cupronickel cutlery at home, when they are thoroughly blackened.

You can also apply soda to the dishwashing sponge, which must first be moistened. Farther:

1. Polish objects with this tool.
2. Rinse in cool water.
3. Wipe with a dry towel.

Cleaning with alcohol

If your appliances have only slightly faded, it will be quite enough to wipe them with a piece of cloth previously moistened with alcohol or vodka.

Removing damp stains

Dark stains from dampness must be removed with warm vinegar:

1. Dilute one teaspoon in one glass of water.
2. Moisten a wool rag in it and wipe the appliances.
3. After that, rinse with clean water and dry.

Chalk polishing

To clean cupronickel at home from blackness can be using chalk. To do this, take chalk and soap in equal proportions:

1. Dissolve the soap in hot water, add chalk.
2. Stir thoroughly until a homogeneous, dense mass is obtained.
3. With the resulting mass, polish the surface, and then wipe it with a dry cloth.

Important! You can also cook another version of polishing thick paste. To prepare it, do the following: in a half glass of water, add 30 g of chalk, 60 g of ammonia (ammonia). With this mixture, polish cupronickel instruments to a shine.

Eggshell Decoction

At a time when cupronickel has already managed to fade properly, a more difficult method of cleaning may be needed. In order to achieve the best possible effect:

1. Before starting a thorough cleaning, wash the appliance with warm water using a normal soap solution.
2. Prepare a decoction of eggshell. For this you will need: 1 liter of water, the shell of two raw eggs.
3. Bring the broth to a boil, and then lower the cupronickel spoons there for a few minutes.
4. Rinse them after cleaning under running water, wipe them dry.

Potato broth

Dip spoons from cupronickel into a warm potato broth and hold them there for 15-20 minutes. Then remove, rinse and wipe dry.

Important! This method is the mildest, and is often used for products with gilding or blackening.

Garlic husk broth

Another folk way that will definitely suit you, if you are in search of a means, than to clean cupronickel cutlery at home. In this case, use the garlic husk:

1. Pour a large amount of husk with water.
2. When the broth is already boiling, dip the appliances into it and boil until a shine appears.

Important! The boiling time depends on the degree of obscuration of cupronickel - the more black coating, the longer it will take.

Foil

This is the most effective way to remove dark plaque from cupronickel instruments. This method involves boiling in an aluminum pan with foil and soda. It is done like this:

1. Put a sheet of foil on the bottom of the pan, and place the instruments on it.
2. Pour hot water in a volume of 1 liter.
3. Pour 2 tablespoons of soda into it and boil.

There is another option:

1. Take any basin; you can even use a plastic one. The main requirement is that he can withstand boiling water.
2. Cover the bottom of the basin with foil.
3. Place the items on the foil and sprinkle with soda, approximately 1.5 tablespoons.
4. Pour boiling water - the devices should be completely in water.
5. After cleaning, rinse in clean water, wipe very dirty places with a sponge.

Sodium Thiosulfate Solution

For very darkened products, the following recommendations are suitable: Prepare a solution of sodium thiosulfate - it is sold in a pharmacy.

1. Dilute 10 ml of sodium thiosulfate in 30 ml of water.
2. First, wash the appliances in warm water with soap, this is extremely important.
3. Then, while they are still warm, wipe with a swab of solution, rinse with water and wipe.

Electrolysis

There is also a galvanic cleaning method. It is very complex, but at the same time, extremely effective. To apply this method, a current source is required.

Follow these instructions and you can easily cope with the task of how to clean cupronickel at home from blackness:

1. Take a glass dish, pour water into it, lower cupronickel instruments and another metal object, for example: a nail or a spoon.
2. Connect the minus to the item that you are cleaning, and the plus to the additional item.
3. The cleaning time depends on the magnitude of the voltage. For example, if the voltage is 24V, the spoon will be clean in just 1 second.

Important! Do not forget about safety when working with electric current. If you are not sure that you can do it, better choose another method.

Household chemicals

Household chemicals are also used to clean cupronickel appliances. For example:

• paste "Polymet";
• emulsion "Amethyst";
• Sif-gel.

You can also purchase special napkins in jewelry stores designed specifically for wiping items made of nickel silver.

Important! Be sure to rinse the devices thoroughly with water after you finish cleaning the products with household chemicals.

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Storage cupronickel

Keep cupronickel products tightly wrapped in foil or plastic wrap - this will help protect them from the rather aggressive effects of oxygen. If you do this, cutlery and your favorite jewelry made of nickel silver will retain their unique splendor for a long time.

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Why does the metal begin to darken?

There are several reasons why their cupronickel products begin to darken. You need to know about them in order to make it easier to organize care for such things and not have to spend a lot of time cleaning them.

These reasons include:

• improper care of products;
• storage in inappropriate conditions;
• high level of humidity.

For example:

• if cupronickel devices are stored in a condition of high humidity, they very quickly become covered with unwanted dark stains, while losing their attractiveness;
• if you simply stack all the instruments from different metals in one pile, then their interaction cannot be avoided either;
• if you clean nickel silver with abrasive or too aggressive chemicals, the products will not only blacken constantly, but will also become unusable;
• the constant exposure to direct sunlight also does not bode well for this alloy, so at least hide it after applying the cupronickel product to the dining-room drawer.

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Stock footage

After applying our advice in practice, all your spoons from cupronickel or any other objects will again shine with brilliance and beauty. And if you love everything original and you have not only cupronickel instruments, but also silver ones, you can safely use all of the above methods and tools to clean them from dark plaque.