Everything loses its sparkle and quality after a certain time; be it pots and pans or diamonds and precious metals. However, there are simple and surprising ways to return the brilliance to each of these items and make them look as if you just pulled them out of the box. Here are 12 easy and surprising tips that will turn any old product into something that looks new and shiny.
Plain gold jewelry can easily be polished with beer (Lager type only). Spray some of the liquid on to a cloth and gently rub the jewelry with it. Polish again with a dry cloth, and your gold jewelry will look like it was just bought.
Next time you finish eating a healthy and sweet banana, don’t throw away the peel, as it can be used to clean and polish your jewelry and silverware. Place a few banana peels in a blender, lightly blend them, and use a cloth to rub the paste over your silverware. Then, dip the silver in the water and remove the remaining mixture with a damp cloth, they’ll be like new.
Bring the sparkle back to your diamonds by applying a little toothpaste on a brush and brushing them just like you would your teeth. Then, clean the diamonds with a damp cloth, and you’ll have them sparkling like stars.
To clean your gems and restore their shine and energy, place them in a cup of seltzer for the night. In the morning, when you wake up, the gems will be brighter and more beautiful than ever.
For a thorough cleaning and polishing of non-marble floors, mix half a cup of vinegar with 3 liters of water and wash the floor with the solution. Then, wash again with soap and water, and make sure to dry properly, so that the soap doesn’t remain on the floor causing it to become sticky and accumulate dust. Washing with vinegar will have your floors gleaming.
If your kitchen countertops look old, all you have to do is mix 3 tablespoons of baking soda and a liter of water, dip a cloth into the solution, squeeze it and rub it over your countertops thoroughly. Let your countertop air dry for several hours and clean it again with a damp cloth.
Remember the banana peel from the silver tip? It has several other uses that include, among other things, an efficient and simple way to clean and polish leather shoes. Simply rub the shoe with the inside of the banana skin, then clean with a dry cloth. The potassium found in bananas will be absorbed into the leather, which will shine like never before.
Want to make your own window cleaning spray? Remember the following recipe:
Mix the ingredients in a spray bottle and you now have a window cleaner. To complete the cleaning process and have your windows sparkling, wipe the spray with a newspaper in a circular motion.
If your glass cups look dusty even after you’ve washed them, wash them with white toothpaste (the cheaper, the better). Spread some on the cup, scrub with a toothbrush and rinse with water. Your cups will be bright enough for the King of England!
To polish stainless steel surfaces, simply clean the dirt off of them as you normally would. Then, when the surface is dry, sprinkle with baking soda and rub with a sponge. Pour a little vinegar on the surface, rub again gently with a clean sponge and rinse with water. You can also rub a lemon peel on the surface to keep the shine for a long time.
In olden times, pots and many other metal objects were cleaned with beer. If you want to return the shine to your pots and pans, pour beer into it and let it sit inside for a while. Then rinse them with water and rub them with a sponge, and your pots will be so shiny you’ll be able to see your reflection in them.
To make sure your glasses don’t have smudges, apply a few drops of vodka to the lens and move your finger over it. Then pour a little water on the lens and dry with a cloth.
Image sources: Serendipity Diamonds, Johnida Dockens,
Kevin Harber, Nicolas Raymond, Andy Franklin,
Bart Heird, Alex Brown, SamikRC, Pablo Fernández,
Ian, Joe Cross, Mal Booth, ArielGold
