How to Clean Silver Tarnish On Silver Jewelry

After your silver is already tarnished, you can use a silver polish to remove the black coating. This tarnish-removing polishing cream is quite popular and can be used on silver.

Another option is to use a silver polishing cloth.

You can also take your silver items to a jewelry shop to have your pieces professionally cleaned.

If you prefer to clean your silver jewelry at home, you can use a silver cleaning dip:

Line a glass container with tin foil; pour some hot water, and add one or two tablespoons of salt and baking soda.

Put your silver pieces in the dip, and leave them there for about five minutes.

After the tarnish disappears, rinse your jewelry with water and dry it using a soft cloth.

Some people use toothpaste to clean silver. However, there are others who warn against this method as toothpaste can be too abrasive and scratch your jewelry. Generally, it comes down to the softness of the silver alloy and to the kind of toothpaste used as some brands are more abrasive than others. If your silver item has a flat surface, where scratches could be seen easily, you might not want to risk using this method.

Plating Silver: A Temporary Protection

There are many silver items sold today that are plated to prevent tarnishing. The metals used for the coating are usually pure silver and rhodium.

This process of plating silver with a layer of white metal is called “flashing.”

The downside of plated silver is that the coating will eventually wear off. The more often you wear and polish your silver, the faster this will happen.

When the plating goes away, you can have your jewelry re-plated.

Storing Silver to Delay Tarnishing

Generally, to slow down the tarnishing process, you should store you silver jewelry in a way that limits its exposure to air and humidity.

Put your silver items in sealed bags that close tightly. You can also put a silica gel bag inside, along with your jewelry. These small silica packets absorb humidity and thus help to delay tarnishing 

The article comes from China Chang'an stainless steel jewelry manufacturer - A2A, the website is www.stainlesssteelacc.com .