Cleaning cupronickel (utensils and jewelry) at home: remove dirt and restore shine without household chemicals

Since ancient times, table silver has been the pride of housewives and a real heirloom. But not everyone could afford such a luxury, and therefore a cheaper analogue appeared - cupronickel, which looks no less elegant. And today, such devices are actively used. But there is one significant drawback. Cupronickel tends to darken under the influence of dampness, detergents and other external influences. How to clean cupronickel? How to restore the beauty and brilliance of your favorite cutlery?
Cupronickel spoons and forks

Cupronickel is a copper-zinc alloy. Someone uses devices from this material daily, and someone protects them for special occasions. In any case, one can not help but say about a number of advantages of such dishes:

  • strength;
  • resistance to corrosion;
  • presentable appearance;
  • easy care;
  • similarity to silver;
  • resistance to temperature jumps;
  • hygiene.

How to clean cupronickel: a selection of recipes

How to wash a gold-plated cup holder? Cleaning cupronickel at home is complicated by the fact that the material is vulnerable to most detergents. Therefore, the best option is to use folk remedies, time-tested.

Soda

  1. Wash the appliances.
  2. Sprinkle lightly on a damp sponge with baking soda.
  3. Rub the darkened areas thoroughly.
  4. Rinse appliances in cold water and wipe dry.
Soda is used not only to combat darkening, but also to prevent their appearance. To do this, rinse the dishes in a soda solution after each wash.

Alcohol

  1. Moisten a cotton cloth with medical alcohol or vodka.
  2. Intensively rub the tarnished product.
  3. Wipe dry.

Eggshell

  1. Pour a shell of two raw eggs with a liter of water.
  2. Bring the liquid to a boil and boil for another three to five minutes.
  3. Dip the darkened appliances into the solution for a quarter of an hour.
  4. Rinse the items and wipe them dry.
After cooking hard-boiled eggs, do not drain the water in which they were boiled into the sink. Just dip the darkened cupronickel appliances into it.

Garlic husk

  1. Place the garlic husks in a pan and pour in an equal amount of water.
  2. As soon as the liquid boils, dip cupronickel instruments into it.
  3. Continue boiling until the items brighten. This usually takes three to ten minutes.
The proportions of water and husks can be adjusted independently, based on the degree of contamination. The darker the product, the more husks you will need.

Serum

  1. Heat the whey and immerse cupronickel products in it.
  2. Soak them in the liquid for 15-20 minutes.
  3. Rub the appliances with a rag.
  4. Wash and dry.

Ammonia

  1. In a glass of water, dilute a couple of tablespoons of ammonia.
  2. Place the instruments in the solution.
  3. Rinse forks and spoons under running water and wipe dry.
If the spots on cupronickel are already obsolete, you need to fill the objects with pure ammonia for five minutes. After that, they must be thoroughly washed with cold water.

Vinegar

  1. In a glass of water, dilute a tablespoon of vinegar.
  2. Moisten a rag in the composition and rub the contaminated areas well.
  3. Wash and dry the items dry.
To quickly clean heavily blackened appliances or coins, you need to pre-treat the products with glycerin. After ten minutes, rub the surface with warm vinegar.

Carbonated drinks

  1. Place darkened appliances at the bottom of the container.
  2. Pour sweet soda to completely cover items.
  3. After two hours, rinse the instruments with water and rub them with a napkin.

Lemon acid

  1. Dissolve a couple of tablespoons of citric acid in a liter of water.
  2. Put a piece of copper wire in the liquid.
  3. Dip the instruments in liquid for two hours.
  4. Wipe dry.

Gloss Products

Given that cupronickel has become a kind of substitute for silver, its key characteristic should be shine. There are several ways to clean cupronickel spoons at home, so that they sparkle like a noble metal.

Pasta

  1. Fill the pan with water and heat to a boil.
  2. Pour the pasta into the bowl and start mixing them with darkened cupronickel appliances.
  3. When you understand that the pasta is cooked, dip the forks and spoons in the pan and leave for 20 minutes.
  4. Remove the appliances from the pan, wash them and place them on a towel to dry.
  5. Polish the products.

a piece of chalk

  1. Before polishing items made of nickel silver, dissolve two tablespoons of grated chalk and soap chips in a liter of water.
  2. Using a rag dampened in the resulting composition, carefully polish objects.
  3. Rinse them in cold water and wipe dry.

Foil

  1. Cover the bottom and walls of the pan with aluminum foil.
  2. Place the appliances to be cleaned in the container.
  3. Prepare a weak soda solution and fill them with objects.
  4. Bring the liquid to a boil.
  5. Five minutes later, remove the pan from the heat.
  6. Rinse cupronickel objects and wipe them with a dry cloth.
During boiling, a chemical reaction occurs, as a result of which contaminants from cupronickel pass to foil. If the first time it was not possible to completely get rid of the blackness, repeat the procedure.

Toothpaste

  1. Pre-treat products with detergent.
  2. Without drying the products, start rubbing them with toothpaste. To do this, you can use a brush or the hard side of the kitchen sponge.
  3. Wash and dry the appliances.
To clean the nickel silver jewelry from dirt, tooth powder is also suitable. Simply rub the wet product in the most dirty places.

Knife, fork and spoons

How to process products with gilding

Care of cutlery is greatly complicated if they are covered with gilding or decorated with elements of blackening. In order not to damage the decor, you need to carefully choose how to clean cupronickel cutlery.

Potatoes

  1. Cook the jacket potatoes and remove the vegetables from the pan with a slotted spoon.
  2. Place the gilded items in the decoction.
  3. After 20 minutes, rinse and wipe them.
Raw potatoes also cope well with dirt on cupronickel products. Just grate the vegetables on a fine grater and treat the devices with the mashed potatoes.

Egg white

  1. Whisk the chicken egg slightly with a fork.
  2. Moisten a cloth and begin to rub products.
  3. When you get rid of the darkening, wash the appliances well and wipe with a dry cloth.

Tips for keeping the result longer

To clean cupronickel dishes from yellowness or to give shine to jewelry, you need to not only choose the right tool, but also take into account some rules. Six key tips can be identified for perfectly clean appliances.

  1. Do not leave in sight. To protect cupronickel from darkening, each time after use, hide it in a special case.
  2. Protect products. While you are not using the appliances, wrap each of them in paper or foil.
  3. Pay attention to prevention. With the regular use of nickel silver appliances, their darkening can be prevented if you wash only with cold water. They should also be regularly cleaned with a bleaching solution (soda, alcohol).
  4. Prepare appliances for cleaning. To effectively bleach cupronickel, first clean the product from food debris and other contaminants. Remove stale dirt and grease.
  5. Keep away from chlorine. This substance negatively affects the coating, leading to its destruction.
  6. Use professional tools. To give nickel silver shine, use special pastes that jewelers use to clean silver.
Can cupronickel be washed in a dishwasher? Yes, but only on condition that there will be no other metal objects in it. Otherwise, the appliances will darken.

Interestingly, cupronickel ceased to produce more than a hundred years ago. And all due to the fact that scientists have come to the conclusion about the dangers of copper-zinc alloy. The devices that we use today are made of nickel silver, which involves impregnations of nickel and silver. But mistresses by inertia use the old name. In addition, the same rules apply for the new alloy as for the old. Therefore, knowing how to clean cupronickel cutlery, you can easily tidy nickel silver items.

Article updated: 04/27/2019
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