It’s Saturday night, you’ve slipped into the perfect dress and shoes, only to open your jewelry box and discover the earrings, your beloved statement pieces, have morphed into an unseemly dark silver. Panic ensues, you have nothing else remotely suitable. What happened and can you fix it?
Understanding Tarnish
Tarnish is the unwanted gift included with every purchase of real silver items. But, a little understanding goes a long way toward keeping your favorite pieces shiny.
Most real silver jewelry on the market is 925 sterling silver, meaning it is 92.5% pure silver with 7.5% copper comprising the rest. Given this chemical composition and copper’s propensity for reactivity, your jewelry will tarnish.
Copper reacts with its environment and the biggest tarnish accelerants are items many of us use daily, including lotions and perfumes, cleaning products, and other household chemicals. Even exposure to air pollutants and oxygen promotes tarnish.
In essence: the more exposure your jewelry has to these elements, the more rapidly it will tarnish.
So ladies (and gentlemen!): ensure creams, makeup, and perfume/cologne go on well before your jewelry.
Prevention and Care
Many people wonder how long sterling silver lasts, likely because they assume a tarnished piece of jewelry is irreparable.
In fact, silver jewelry can last for generations, but only if you keep a few things in mind before and after you wear it. Here are a few tips to keep it looking its best.
Minimize opportunities to tarnish
The simplest way to avoid premature sterling silver tarnish is to avoid exposing your jewelry to water and other types of moisture (creams, perfumes, cleaners, etc).
Wipe your jewelry with a soft cloth before and after wearing
This helps maintain shine and prolongs the interval until a deep cleaning is necessary.
Store your jewelry with care
When not wearing, minimize your silver jewelry’s contact with oxygen and pollutants by storing in a jewelry box or a soft cloth pouch. This will help inhibit oxidation of the metal by reducing its exposure to the air.
Cleaning Techniques
When the time comes to clean your jewelry, there are several methods to restore your jewelry’s natural brilliance.
Dish Soap and Warm Water
Even the most careful among us spritz perfume with earrings in place or wash our hands while wearing rings. When this happens, simply use a drop of dish soap with warm water to lift any residue from your jewelry and wipe clean.
Polishing Cloth
An easy way to keep your silver sparkling is by using a polishing cloth, which is treated with a silver cleaner. These are available at jewelers and on Amazon.
Silver Polish
There are many silver cleaning polishes and creams available on the market. These cleaners are inexpensive and remove tarnish with a little elbow grease.
Baking Soda and Aluminum Foil (our favorite!)
As children, we’ve all marveled at homemade volcanos in science class, erupting after combining vinegar and baking soda. With silver, a similar reaction takes place when you add warm water to baking soda and salt.
The brief chemical reaction made from pouring warm water on the mixture lifts tarnish straight off your jewelry. Science, pure and simple!
A brief step-by-step:
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Place 1 tablespoon each of baking soda and salt in an aluminum foil-lined bowl (shiny side facing up).
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Pour hot water over the salt and soda, gently mixing the two.
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Place your jewelry in the bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Small flecks of tarnish will break away from your jewelry and you may notice a smell of sulfur.
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After 10 minutes have elapsed, remove your jewelry from the bowl, rinse with warm water and dry with a soft cloth.
Where there’s silver, there’s tarnish. Despite this, by adhering to a few simple recommendations, tarnish is managed and dispatched with little effort.
Refer to our jewelry care page for a quick reminder of our top tips!
