Retro cleaning hack gets cutlery sparkling again using an unlikely pantry combo

A retro hack used to make tarnished silverware look shiny again is making a comeback as a way to revive dull stainless steel cutlery.

The cleaning trick is currently doing the rounds on social media with TikTokers showing how well it works to transform their knives and forks.

To do the hack, you need bicarb soda (also known as baking soda), aluminium foil, boiling water and a tray, bowl or sink.

Watch the video above.

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Jess from @modern_motherhood does the hack directly in a sink by first laying down a sheet of foil before adding her cutlery and baking soda. She also added sea salt and vinegar but those additions aren't in the traditional version of the hack and aren't necessary to make it work.

"Now, leave that for a couple of hours and the tin foil will create a chemical reaction where all of the dirt from your cutlery transfers from your cutlery to the tin foil," she said.

Jess then compared a spoon that had been cleaned with the hack with one that hadn't to show the difference it makes to the appearance of the silver.

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Meanwhile, Sara from the TikTok account @sara.and.ramal does the hack, which her grandmother taught her, a slightly different way.

"One of the best things my grandmother taught me," she captioned the video.

Instead of pouring boiling water into a dish, Sara adds water to a ceramic dish and then boils it on the stove.

She then adds cutlery, at least half a dozen balls of scrunched up foil and two tablespoons of baking soda and leaves it to sit for a while before removing the cutlery with tongs.

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Those who viewed the videos said the hack also works for silver jewellery.

"You can line a bowl with tin foil, pop your silver jewellery in with some baking soda and boiling water and it does the same thing to it," one said.

Others suggested adding a scrunched up ball of foil with your cutlery in the dishwasher for the same result. However, this hack can be hit and miss and even block the water from flowing easily, which means your cutlery won't be cleaned as well as it normally would.

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