Cleaning silver

Some of the rings and jewelry I find have been in the water for a while and the silver ones become heavily tarnished.

The usual cleaning with Tarnex and baking soda is a long and tedious job so in these severe cases I use electrolysis.

I mix one teaspoon of salt in a glass of water attach the positive wire from my home made power source to a spoon, put it in the glass, then attach the negative to the ring. After several minutes the ring fizzles and the water starts getting darker with all the tarnish coming off the ring. Then I finish off with a good rub and Tarnex if needed.

I use an old cell phone charger for the power source, with crocodile clips added to the two wires.