Knowing what’s harmful to your silver jewelry is the best way to combat tarnish. For your daily wearing, we’ve put together this list of tips:
- Wear it often: Your skin’s natural oils will help keep silver jewelry shiny. One of the easiest ways to prevent tarnish is to simply wear your silver often as opposed to letting it sit in a jewelry box unworn.
- Remove during household chores: Substances with additional sulfur like household cleaners, chlorinated water, perspiration, and rubber will accelerate corrosion and tarnish. It’s a good idea to remove sterling silver completely before cleaning.
- Keep out of direct sunlight: Before you hit the beach or pool, be sure to remove your silver jewelry. Sunlight can cause silver to tarnish as well.
- Put your jewelry on last: Lotions, makeups, hair spray and perfumes will accelerate tarnishing.
HOW TO CLEAN YOUR SILVER JEWELRY
There are countless at-home methods for cleaning your silver jewelry. You’ve probably found yourself faced with endless options, wondering which are the best. Well, here’s the silver cleaning methods that our jewelers suggest for your at-home cleanings:
- Soap and water: This is our most recommended method because of the gentleness of soap and water. This should really be your first line of defense before trying anything else.
- Baking soda and water: If you come across suggestions to use toothpaste, we highly recommend you ignore that tip and use baking soda and water instead. When toothpastes were simple non-whitening, non-gel based pastes, they could be used on your jewelry. However, they include many more ingredients now that may damage your silver. Instead make a paste from baking soda and water, apply a small amount onto a cloth or tooth brush and scrub gently.
- White vinegar and baking soda: This gentle cleaning method is great for removing heavy tarnish. Soak your sterling silver in ½ cup of white vinegar and 2 tbsp of baking soda (combine these in the sink and prepare yourself for the fizzing and foam) for two to three hours. Rinse jewelry and pat dry.
- Finish with a polish: After you’ve given your jewelry a good cleaning, you can finish the process by using a polishing cloth that’s specifically for silver.