A soft polishing cloth

Another soft cotton cloth

Silver polish (see tips)

Water

Your average service for 8 will take you about 20 minutes.

2torial #0443: Learn2 Clean Silverware "Look who's coming to dinner!" When the Queen (or your in-laws) come for a visit, what could be nicer than brightly shining silver on the table? Well, if you're like most of us, you'll be polishing it the night before they show up. Here's how to keep your silver polishing time to a minimum through proper technique and preventive measures. Silver tarnishes when exposed to air, and there's really no way around that. But if you take proper care of your silver (and silverplate), you'll have a lot less work to do after each use. Specially treated cloth bags are sold that retard or prevent tarnish from forming: this is probably the single best investment that you can make. They don't cost much and will save you lots of time cleaning discolored items. Step 1