New items made of cupronickel can hardly be distinguished from silver. Cupronickel is an alloy of silver, copper, nickel and zinc. Cupronickel cutlery is very popular, jewelry and dishes made of cupronickel are less common. Like silver, items made of cupronickel darken over time. To restore their original radiance to them is a troublesome and painstaking task.
From high humidity darkens both silver and cupronickel. Products should be cleaned regularly. Experts recommend cleaning nickel silver after each use. To do this, you can use a solution of baking soda in the ratio: per 1 liter of warm water 50 g of baking soda. But if cutlery from cupronickel is used daily, then it is not always possible to carefully care for them.
Cleaning items made of nickel silver can be carried out at home. It is more correct to use special means: solutions, pastes, napkins or polishes. Typically, these funds are sold in jewelry stores. But since we are talking about cutlery, there is a high risk of harmful chemicals entering the human body when eating.
Cleaning cupronickel at home can be carried out the old fashioned way - using a piece of suede, crushed chalk, alcohol or vodka. All these tools help to cleanse the darkened cupronickel well. In this case, cleaning turns into endless rubbing of objects to their original shine.
It is widely believed that toothpaste or tooth powder cleans a darkened cupronickel. Cleaning, however, may be unsafe because mechanical stress can leave microcracks on the surface of the product. In this case, cupronickel will darken even faster.
Experienced housewives restore the sparkle to cupronickel products with the help of ammonia. Pour it into a container, and take turns lowering cupronickel products into it. After this, the products are thoroughly washed under water and wiped dry. This method of cleaning cupronickel is good, except that ammonia has a pungent odor that can make your head hurt and your health worse.
It is believed that boiling cupronickel products in husks from garlic also returns their shine. But in this case, it is quite difficult to determine the concentration of a decoction of garlic husk, on which the success of cleaning cupronickel depends.
If you have large enough items made of nickel silver, they can be cleaned in a water bath using citric acid. First of all, it is necessary to find the capacity in which the cupronickel product will fit. Next, pour water into it, pour citric acid at the rate of 100 g of acid per 1 liter. water and add a small piece of copper wire. When the water boils, it is possible to lower cupronickel products in it for 15-20 minutes, depending on the degree of contamination.
But there is another well-known and time-tested way to clean cupronickel. Cleaning with baking soda. Many housewives love to use soda as a cleaning product, while referring to its safety for health. Soda removes any dirt well and is well washed off surfaces.
So, to clean cupronickel products you will need a pot, foil and baking soda. The bottom of the pan must be covered with foil. Pour water and fill in soda at the rate of 4 tablespoons of soda per 1 liter of water. Boil the water and, without turning off the fire, lower the cupronickel products into the pan for 15-20 minutes. At the end of the product from cupronickel, it is necessary to dispose under water and wipe it dry.
If cutlery from cupronickel is not used every day, then they must be stored by wrapping in foil. This will help to avoid darkening.
No matter how troublesome it is to maintain the purity and brilliance of cupronickel products, you must always find time to put them in order. Serving a table with darkened cupronickel priors is considered bad form. And using the shining devices yourself is much more pleasant.