For Shinier Silverware Every Time, Polish Your Utensils With This Kitchen Staple

It's entirely normal for your forks and knives to lose their luster over time. Ideally your dishwasher would clean up the grime, although if you have genuine silver utensils, you really should be careful about placing them into the dishwasher (some say you shouldn't, but it's doable). It can be difficult to preserve silver items, like that china you inherited from your grandmother with silver handles. Thankfully, there seems to be some science that backs up aluminum foil as a certified silverware cleaner. You can use any aluminum foil you have lying around, as long as it's unused and big enough to cover a bowl.

While the science is a bit complicated, the process itself is simple: Take a large container, like a glass bowl or a pot, and line it with aluminum foil so that its shiny side is facing up (you can also use an aluminum baking pan to save some time). Then pour in baking soda, white vinegar, and hot water, drop in the silverware, and let it soak. Wrapping the silverware itself in aluminum foil should also work. The tarnish should begin to come off, and it shouldn't take long to make your silverware cleaner than restaurant silverware, which is dirtier than you think.

The reason this works involves a certain chemical process known as an electrolytic reaction. Aluminum foil oxidizes (which means it reacts with oxygen) very well, and it also reacts well with alkaline fluids (with low pH values) like dishwasher detergent. When it's in direct contact with your silverware, the heat and detergent can divert some of the oxidization from your utensils to the foil. In simpler terms, the aluminum foil absorbs tarnish from the silverware — some claim you can see it happening if you watch it beneath the soapy water.

You may have heard of another trick, which involves tossing a ball of aluminum foil into the dishwasher basket along with your silverware. There's a lot of debate over how well this actually works: Even though the science is the same, some still believe that any extra shiny silverware is simply the placebo effect at work, and it certainly won't work if the crumpled ball gets loose and is no longer touching your utensils (and while we're on the subject, you shouldn't use aluminum foil to sharpen dull knives). Even if the ball of aluminum foil does deliver the desired end result, you're better off letting your silverware soak in an aluminum foil bath instead. It's simpler and more reliable.