I wash off dirt and stains on spoons and forks in 15 minutes. Stainless steel with carved patterns sparkles like new

What can you find in grandma's attic? I put things in order and found the most beautiful cutlery with carved patterns. Over time they darkened and lost their former shine. It's good that I know how to clean dirt from spoons quickly and efficiently. I tell you what to do.

Boiling water and soda are stainless steel’s best friends

I don’t have a dishwasher, so I have to periodically clean the cutlery from plaque. It appears either from water, or simply from time. Can't be washed off with regular detergent.

To make your spoons and forks shine like new again, I do this:

1. I put the darkened cutlery in a large saucepan.
2. I sprinkle half a pack of baking soda on top.
   
3. I get water from the tap. It needs to completely cover all the devices.
4. I put the pan on low heat.
5. I time it for 15 minutes. During this time, the water becomes cloudy, and the spoons and forks become noticeably lighter.
   
6. I drain the boiling water, take out the spoons, they will have a slight white coating, it’s not scary.
   
   But now they are easy to clean from old dirt. I rinse the utensils and wash them with a sponge without difficulty. I wipe the devices with a cloth to remove any remaining residue. Boiling in soda softens the plaque and removes it with a gentle movement. Even the smallest recesses are cleaned.
7. I rinse spoons and forks in clean water.
   

I boil spoons and forks in a soda solution about once every six months. They shine like in an expensive restaurant.And you can’t tell that they are 10 years old.

I advise you to boil the appliances in the same darkened pot or frying pan. Clean it up at the same time. You can throw in something else. For example, a grater and a manual coffee grinder. Baking soda and boiling water will clean any stainless steel to a shine.
If there is a lot of dirt in the patterns or the spoons have been lying idle for a long time, the boiling time can be increased to an hour. You just need to watch the water so that it doesn’t boil away. The set I found in the attic cleaned up in about 40 minutes. Although it has been accumulating dirt for about 5 years.

Important! Only stainless steel can be boiled in a soda solution. Silver and cupronickel may suffer. They are cleaned carefully with special pastes.

I think everyone knows about this. But just in case, I decided to remind you.

Other ways to clean patterned spoons

There are plenty of ways to get your cutlery back to sparkling clean.

I can immediately name a dozen methods:

• stale bread;
• an old toothbrush;
• suede;
• soda slurry;
• tooth powder;
• ammonia;
• eraser;
• foil;
• vinegar;
• vodka.

I have tried several of them personally. Yes, spoons are cleaned. But how much time needs to be spent on this! You have to rub each device by hand and clean out every indentation. I liked only 3 options.

Eraser

An unusual method that is suitable not only for stainless steel, but also for absolutely any appliance. I learned about him from a Soviet magazine. You need to take an eraser, which you don’t mind throwing away later, and rub the products. The plaque washes off well. True, the eraser does not get dirt out of the deep and narrow depressions.

Ammonia

Previously, silverware was cleaned with ammonia. I recently found out that you can use it to clean stainless spoons.

• Ideally, ammonia should be undiluted.You need to soak a tampon with it and rub the patterned areas. The plaque will go away immediately.
• You can make a solution of 5 parts water and 1 part ammonia and soak spoons and forks in it for half an hour. The lower the ammonia concentration, the slower the cleaning process will occur.
• If there is a lot of cutlery, you can prepare 300 ml of solution (250 ml of water and 50 ml of ammonia), soak the gauze, and wrap the spoons and forks. Place in a tight bag. After 30 minutes, wipe off the dirt with the same gauze.

Ammonia perfectly removes any plaque. But the problem is that you need a lot of it. And the strong smell can cause headaches.

Foil

My daughter-in-law read in a magazine a method similar to the one I use.

Need to:

1. Line the bottom of the pan with food foil. One sheet is enough.
2. Place cutlery on top.
3. Pour 2 tbsp. tablespoons of rock salt and baking soda (this is for 1 liter of water).
4. Fill with cold water.
5. Bring to a boil and turn off. Don't boil!
6. Leave until morning. In the morning, wipe the appliances with a cloth.
7. Rinse and dry.

The daughter-in-law says that spoons and forks shine like never before after the foil. This is how she cleans both regular stainless steel and a set of nickel silver spoons. I can not say anything. I’m quite happy with my method of boiling in soda, but I don’t keep cupronickel and silver utensils.

I will always remember the situation when I came to visit my neighbor, and she took out teaspoons, which were so dark from plaque that they turned brown. Then I experienced Spanish shame. Dirty cutlery is a stain on the housewife’s reputation. It's not that difficult to clean them. You only need to devote 15 minutes of time and spare no soda.