Among the long list of things I want to get done tonight, I hope we can get a good jump start [if not finish] installing the parts on my iMac. I'm a little anxious because we're afraid it's a more daunting task than we realized. According to Ryan, we have to take every piece apart and put it back together, and since there are some fragile pieces, we risk it not going back together at all. I don't know how much I'm willing to pay to get it working again. It's not a spring chicken anymore, but as far as I'm concerned, it still does a lot more than my HP laptop. Plus, it's an antique when it comes to Apple machines!
Oh, so, I've got some sad news. One of the best coffee shops in Longview went out of business this past week. Mugshots Coffee House is gone. It was a place even Ryan liked, and he's a coffee-snob! They were less expensive than Starbucks, so I don't think it was the price. And it was the favorite off-campus coffee shop for students, although I doubt Mugshots saw too many LeTU student dollars since most of them would get their coffee fixes at Common Grounds since it was already paid for. Why they went out of business is not obvious to me. I do want to know why, though. They had really good fruit smoothies! And I still have my punch card partially filled out. Bummer!
Well, today is going to fly by, I can just feel it. I have a lot of design projects on my work list for today, and when I get home, I've got a lot to do there. But I like it! And I am going to go to bed early tonight!!! Even with *counts* 18 things on my list. The week is downhill from here!
Cleaning Tarnished Silver
Start with plain soap and water. The first thing to do is to wash your silverware or silver jewelry with soap and water to remove any dust or oils from the surface. You'll be removing the tarnish by way of a mild chemical reaction, and want to wash away anything that might block the tarnish from reacting.
Prepare your equipment. The next step is to line a pan with aluminum foil and add enough water to completely cover the piece of silver you want to clean. I used a relatively small pan because I was cleaning jewelry, but this method works just as well for bigger pieces like platters or kettles, as long as you have a large pot that will hold enough water to entirely submerge the piece.
Stir baking soda into the water in the pan. A couple of tablespoons will suffice for small items in a small pan, but you may need as much as a cup or two for large items in a gallon or more of water. As the baking soda dissolves, turn on the burner underneath the pan and let the water come to a boil.
Add tarnished silver. As soon as the water starts to boil, you can remove the pan from the heat and submerge the silver in the hot water. Make sure the silver is in direct contact with the aluminum foil. The whole process can take several minutes, but it shouldn't be long before you start to see tiny yellow or black flakes in the water, or notice that the aluminum foil is turning black. What's happening is that the hot solution of baking soda and water is separating the sulfur from the silver and transferring it to the aluminum. This easy homemade tarnish remover takes advantage of the fact that sulfur is more chemically attracted to aluminum than silver.
Use tongs to move the silver pieces around in the pan. You can even take it out of the solution briefly to get a better look at your progress. Just be gentle and avoid scratching the silver. Once the silver is clean, you should rinse it in clean water to remove any traces of baking soda, then dry it with a soft clean cloth. You may find that you can take off even more tarnish by rubbing at any remaining dark spots with the cloth.
No comments:
Post a Comment