One of my pride and joys is my beautiful hand crafted wedding band that my wife and I purchased in Wales. It is an amazing piece; imagine my shock and horror when I forgot to take it of when getting into my hot-tub. Apparently silver and chlorine don't mix well and my ring became very tarnished.

I immediately ran to the store to purchase some silver cleaner - I am not a 'tight' person, but I refused to pay $8 for a small tin of cleaner; I therefore decided to do some research and see if there were home remedies.

My wife's aunt left us a book of paper clippings etc that contained recipes, cleaning instructions and other oddities - on scouring this book we found a quick and simple way to clean a tarnished ring.

I do note that my ring isn't that expensive; if you have a very expensive ring I would suggest you get it cleaned by a professional, although I highly doubt this method will damage a ring.

This method can be used on any silver object.

The 'equipment':

• Find a suitable bowl - it doesn't really matter the shape of the bowl - I tend to use a small bowl, about 6 inches wide, and at least 3 inches deep.
• Cover the bowl wit aluminum (aluminium) foil - the silver side should be facing upwards - you don't have to be overzealous with this, as long as the foil covers the bowl and has no holes in it.

The 'chemistry' is very simple and is not hazerdous:

• Mix 1 tablespoon of soda and 1 tablespoon of salt in the bowl.
• Add 1 cup of hot water.
• Stir gently until all the powder has dissolved.

Add hot water, 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon to the bowl and mix until the powder dissolves.

You have to be careful here just in case boredom sets in:

• Place the sliver ring in the liquid.
• Leave for at least ten minutes - I usually leave it for an hour or so, but it also depends on the size of the object.
• Take ring out of water - note, the water may be hot so be careful.

Gollum would be very pleased with this method as his 'prescious' would be nice and shiny:

• Dry ring with a dry paper towel,
• If required, hand buff with a soft cloth.
• There you go - a nice and clean ring.

This method can be used for any sized item - simply increase the size of the bowl and increase the ingredients in the same proportion. Larger objects may require longer soaking time.

Voila - you're ring should now be clean and shiny - you can buff it a little to make it extra shiny.

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