If you’re someone who has some favorite pieces of silver jewelry, then you have almost certainly experienced it tarnishing and you may want to know how to make it shine. Because silver is very versatile in many ways and attractive, it really does make beautiful jewelry. But it is nonetheless a fairly fragile metal that can stain and tarnish. Here we’ll take a look at the 5 best ways to make your silver jewelry shine.
Is Tarnishing A Fact Of Life?
If your silver is Sterling then this means that it has a rating of at least 925 which means that it’s 92.5% pure. The other 7.5% are other metals in the piece of jewelry. When it comes to Silver, there are some best practices that can extend the length of time in between the piece becoming tarnished but tarnishing is a fact of life when it comes to Silver. In fact, silver becoming tarnished is completely natural. The metals that are not silver in your piece of jewelry have a reaction to the moisture in the air which causes this effect.
In areas where the humidity is very high, this reaction will happen more quickly and more often. There are also some chemicals that can accelerate this reaction. These products include a number of common household products that can cause the acceleration of this process. These include bleach, hair spray, body lotion, deodorant, and perfume.
How To Store Your Silver Jewelry When Not Wearing It
Whenever your silver is exposed to the air or to chemicals it can accelerate how fast the jewelry tarnishes. An easy solution to storing your silver and significantly slowing down this process is by storing the pieces in airtight plastic bags. You can get these bags for silver that come with anti-tarnishing strips that further protects the jewelry. One of the important things about using this method is to understand you shouldn’t store multiple pieces together.
Whenever you put two or more pieces together they can scratch each other, and this should be avoided. It is also recommended that if you have a chain bracelet or jewelry with links that they are unhooked or unclasped to also prevent scratching. In addition, if you have a storage area that can maintain a low level of humidity, then this also significantly extends the time that the jewelry will have between tarnishing. This is because humidity is one of the major contributors to the process.
Humidity, however, is not the only contributor. As covered above, there are a number of common household products that if the silver comes in contact with it can cause tarnishing to take place. So it’s important when storing your jewelry that you do so away from contact with any such products. Doing so will help you to keep your jewelry looking great in between the times that you wear it.
There are also other items commonly found in the home and used by those wearing the jewelry that can cause issues. If the jewelry from Elizabeth Diamond Company Jewelry store, becomes exposed to chlorinated water, which includes ordinary tap water, and even to things like onions, mayonnaise, mustard, wool, eggs, and even latex, it will cause a reaction that makes the jewelry tarnish, as well as cautiously storing your jewelry you should also consider taking the jewelry off whenever doing household chores or when the jewelry would be exposed to some of these other items.
Five Ways To Make Your Silver Jewelry Shine
1. Clean Your Silver Often
Keeping the jewelry clean and free of tarnish is the best way to keep it beautiful and shiny. Every time you wear your jewelry and you plan to store it make sure you clean it before you do so. It’s also good to actually wear your jewelry because wearing it often and cleaning it regularly is one of the best practices for keeping your jewelry free of tarnish. Very often the simple practice of washing the silver in warm water that is chlorine free can wash away any elements that would lead to tarnishing. Ultrasonic jewelry cleaner is the best machine that can be used to wash and clean jewelry
2. Avoid Using Rubber Gloves When Cleaning
It is common for many who own beautiful pieces of silver to use rubber gloves when they go to clean their jewelry. This is an absolute mistake as rubber will actually corrode the silver. Another common practice is to clean the jewelry in the common kitchen sink where the sink itself is made of stainless steel. This is problematic because this type of metal can easily damage the finish of the jewelry. Instead, clean the jewelry without any gloves and do so in a bowl or other container to avoid contact with the stainless-steel sink.
3. Baking Soda Can Remove Stubborn Tarnish
If your silver has developed significant tarnishing and you’re finding it difficult to remove, then place a very good amount of baking soda on the jewelry and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. You would then want to wipe it clean and polish it with a cloth. Make sure to remove all the baking soda and anything else and wipe it thoroughly. You will then rinse it using hot water that is not chlorinated and then dry.
4. Ketchup Really Can Remove Tarnish
If you have a favorite piece of beautiful silver jewelry you would likely never consider putting it into a bowl of ketchup. But doing so and leaving it there for about 10 minutes will break down the tarnish. You then simply remove it from the ketchup and rinse with warm non-chlorinated water. You do want to make sure that you place only one piece at a time into the ketchup. The reason for this is that jewelry pieces can scratch each other so they should never come in contact with one another.
5. Clean Away Tarnish With Toothpaste
This method is particularly good when you’re working with relatively small pieces. You simply take a small amount of toothpaste and put it on your finger and then with your fingers rub the toothpaste over the tarnished piece of jewelry. After you’ve worked it in well and can see the tarnish starting to come out then you will simply rinse well with warm non-chlorinated water.