| By :
Nick Vassilev
Polishing up the silverware used to be one of those cleaning jobs that was left to the butler - and brass was left for the housekeeper. However, these days, we have to clean this sort of thing ourselves (unless we want to hire a professional cleaner). Even if we don't have masses of family heirlooms in our homes these days, most of us have some metal somewhere that needs to be kept shiny. So how do you clean metalwork without using some ferocious chemical that leaves you with itchy skin? Cleaning silver: For a start off, you should keep silver away from anything involving sulphur, which means that you should never eat eggs with a silver teaspoon. To get tarnished or dull silver sparkling again, coat the metal in a paste of baking soda and water, and then wrap it in aluminium foil. Dip the wrapped object into a bowl or bath of warm water and leave for about five minutes. Rinse the residue off and dry the silver thoroughly by hand with a soft cloth. Cleaning gold: Gold can be cleaned the same way as you clean your teeth: with toothpaste and a soft toothbrush, followed by rinsing. The only difference is that you will then dry the gold item off with a soft cloth, which you don't do to your teeth. This method works wonderfully for rings. Cleaning pewter: Some people like the darker look of old, slightly tarnished pewter. If you want to clean yours and get it looking a little shinier, then one old tip for cleaning pewter is to rub it with a wet cabbage leaf. Alternatively, dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in a cup of vinegar, then make a paste by adding flour (plus essential oil, if you like). Rub on (wear gloves - pewter contains lead and you don't want to risk getting this into your system) and then rinse off thoroughly. Cleaning chrome: Chrome needs to be kept free from grease and should never be cleaned with abrasives. Instead, you can apply a natural cleaning product: clean chrome by spraying it with dilute vinegar, then buffing it dry with a soft cloth. This works for cars as well as for cleaning chrome around the home. Cleaning copper: One of the oddest suggestions for cleaning the copper bottoms of saucepans (or any copper that you want bright and shining rather than gathering a patina of verdigris) is to mix tomato sauce (tomato ketchup) and cream of tartar (about ¼ cup sauce to 1 tablespoon cream of tartar). Coat the copper in question with the mixture and stand overnight before rinsing off with soapy water, then with fresh water and drying. Cleaning brass: To get brass shining, make a paste of salt and vinegar. Coat the brass item with this paste, then leave it to sit on the metal for about five minutes. Then rub the paste off with a damp cloth and dry thoroughly. You may need several damp cloths for this cleaning job. Cleaning cast iron Water is the enemy of cast iron, so if you wash cast iron to remove gunge (e.g. washing a cast iron skillet or frying pan after use), then dry it very thoroughly as soon as possible. Do not leave it to air dry. After drying, "season" the cast iron by rubbing it lightly with vegetable oil. Do not store cast iron pans with the lids on, as the lids will trap moisture, promoting rust. Hang the pan up, if possible.
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