This TikTok Hack Will Make Your Silver Sparkle

Keeping your silverware spotless and shiny can be quite the task after even just a few months of scooping, stirring, slurping, and cutting. In fact, you may even begin to notice some unsightly spots and scratches from all the repeated use. But, don't worry, social media may have the solution we have all been searching for to revive our dingy-looking flatware. Not to mention, this trick is so simple and doesn't require you to purchase any expensive scrubs or cleansers. So, how does it work?

A woman from Australia took to TikTok to show and tell her home tip for how she keeps her silverware looking super sparkly clean, and many are freaking out that it only requires a piece of tin foil wadded up into a ball and placed into the basket in your dishwasher – the same place where you conveniently leave your flatware to be cleaned. It sounds almost too easy, and as such, the video has received a little more than 166,000 views as of publication. Of course, with a caption that states, "This dishwasher hack will leave your silverware sparkling," it's easy to understand its popularity. 

The creator @carolina.mccauley explains in her TikTok video that, first, you need to clean off your silverware before you place it in the dishwasher. Once you have done so and then dropped your balled-up aluminum foil into the basket, you can go ahead and start the machine. When the cycle is complete, out will come beautiful, shiny silverware. One commenter on the post asked what many are thinking: "What? Is that true? It isn't toxic? OMG."

Per the Daily Mail, foil by itself isn't doing the job, but another TikToker stepped in to explain what might possibly be happening with this trick. It's akin to what The Spruce calls a homemade silver cleaner consisting of baking soda and tin foil, making your silverware look as good as new thanks to a chemical reaction happening between the two. As the commenter said, "What I know is baking soda + aluminum foil + boiling water can remove the silver wear [sic] tarnish stain. Haven't [tried] in [the] dishwasher machine."

Still another person offered an alternative method if you find the balled up tin foil doesn't work: "Try adding lemon juice to the cycle. Supposedly [there's] too much phosphorus in the soap so adding acid will help." Vinegar, they said, might be another option.