Over the millennia, cleaning and polishing silver has demanded a lot of time and effort from many maids or housewives. Whether silver candlesticks, tureens, silver cutlery, or silver jewelry, over time silver almost inevitably gets an unsightly black coating.
Like gold, silver has been valued by people as a highly sought-after precious metal for thousands of years. Due to its lower price compared to gold, silver can be used to create much larger and thus extravagant and visually striking pieces of jewelry at affordable prices. Sterling silver occupies a special place among silver alloys, as it has a higher degree of hardness due to the copper content and is significantly more robust. If you store and care for your pieces of jewelry made of this delicate reddish shimmering and shining noble metal properly, you can preserve their extraordinary beauty for many years.
Why is silver tarnishing?
Even though silver is counted among the precious metals, it oxidizes with oxygen or other oxidizing agents in combination with hydrogen sulfide to form silver sulfide. Since both gases are elementary components of our atmosphere, tarnishing silver jewelry is almost inevitable. So no matter how often you clean and care for your silver, sooner or later it will tarnish again. However, there are some tips on how to delay or reduce the tarnishing of the noble metal.
Silver jewelry has the property of oxidizing and turning black after a long time. Especially with an eye-catching piece of jewelry like a ring made of noble metal, this is an ugly aftertaste. Oxidation is caused by contact with oxygen (air) and with sulfur, which is contained in sweat. Furthermore, chlorinated water or saltwater can lead to the unsightly blackening of silver jewelry. So that you can enjoy your piece of jewelry in the long term, you should clean it regularly and handle it with care. Depending on the object, there are different methods for reducing the oxidation of silver.
Tips for cleaning of silver jewelry
To ensure that your silver trinket retains its shine and beauty for as long as possible, you should clean it at regular intervals. There are various methods for cleaning tarnished noble metal jewelry:
- Rub silver jewelry with toothpaste and then polish it clean with a soft cloth.
- Dip the silver jewelry in a solution of washing-up liquid and then dry and polish it with a soft cloth.
- Clean with a silver polishing cloth
- Bathe silver jewelry in a silver bath and then polish dry with a cloth
- Clean the silver trinket with a special silver foam cleaner
An old household remedy for cleaning is to wrap the silver jewelry in aluminum foil and immerse it in a bowl of hot salt water for one hour. Afterward, the silver trinket can be polished clean and dry with a soft cloth. However, when using this method, make sure that it is genuine silver jewelry, otherwise, the noble metal plating can dissolve and, for example, glued-on stones can fall off.
Important: When cleaning, make sure that no aggressive cleaning agents are used that could damage the silver jewelry. Furthermore, the jewelry should not be worn while gardening or doing housework, in the sauna, or even during sports, in order to protect the silver from blackening. Sweat and washing-up liquid can damage the surface of the noble metal in the long run. At the same time, silver often reacts to cosmetics, which is why contact with hairspray, make-up, and perfume should be avoided.
The correct care of tarnished jewelry
- Regular wear and proper storage prevent jewelry from tarnishing.
- Polishing the jewelry with silver polishing cloths from the drugstore makes the pieces shine again.
- Alternatively, clean the jewelry in mild washing-up liquid.
- Immersion baths in saltwater also work wonders: simply wrap the jewelry in aluminum foil beforehand.
- In case of heavy contamination: Use special silver immersion baths.