CARE OF YOUR STERLING SILVER JEWELLERY  

Taking a little time and care with your jewellery will keep it looking at its best and give you many years of enjoyment.

SILVER JEWELLERY: GENERAL CARE ADVICE

All silver jewellery can be prone to tarnishing which is a natural chemical process; the secret to keeping your silver at its best is to give a little care and attention to your silver jewellery as a preventative measure and to catch and treat tarnish in the first early stages. 

Over time, silver jewellery can start to show changes in colour, starting with a mild colour change to yellowish spots or patches. Silver is easily cleaned at this early stage by washing the jewellery with warm water and a few drops of mild, phosphate free detergent then drying thoroughly with a soft microfibre or lens cloth. If your silver jewellery is cleaned often in this way, you will rarely need to do anything else to maintain it other than the occasional polish to suit.

Silver Polish: 

Standard silver polish is manufactured to bring a shine to silver and will not usually remove silver tarnish unless it specifically contains a tarnish cleaning agent. Polishes which mention on their packaging terms such as “tarnish guard”, “prevents tarnish”, “anti-tarnish ingredient“, will include a tarnish inhibitor and are therefore very helpful in keeping your silver jewellery tarnish free.

When selecting a silver polish keep a few points in mind: 

(a) Rely on well known brands - big claims and low prices by small name merchandise should not guide your choice. A well known brand will provide clear information regarding the way in which to use the polish and also the suitability of the polish for various uses.

(b) Do not use polish that is old and dried out. The abrasiveness of such polishes will be very high and will likely damage the silver jewellery.

(c) Silver polishes that are less abrasive are better than more abrasive ones even if the more abrasive polish provides silver tarnish protection. In general, polishes that are meant to be wiped off immediately are less abrasive compared to those that need to be applied and left. 

NEVER use toothpaste to clean your jewellery as the abrasiveness may well cause damage.

SILVER JEWELLERY: TARNISH & CLEANING

Whilst tarnishing can be disappointing, the good news is that not all will experience tarnish with their silver jewellery but if you do, tarnish can always be cleaned away bringing your silver items back to their original attractive silver colour and lustre.

Why does tarnish happen?

Silver tarnish is a natural chemical reaction between silver and contact with a number of chemicals, the most common tarnish causing chemical being sulfur. Sulfur compounds are present in many everyday things such as toiletries, perfumes, aftershaves, body cream and are even in some foods such as eggs (in particular hard boiled eggs with their familiar sulfur smell), onions and in the air around us in the form of hydrogen sulfide. The chemical reaction with sulfur forms a surface layer of oxidation on the silver which starts as a yellowish discolouration changing through to dark purplish to brown to black. 

Humid environments & hot weather

Moisture in the air and humid environments accelerate the rate of tarnish and hotter environments speed up the tarnish reaction. The more humid the environment the faster the rate of tarnish. It is for this reason that jewellers recommend storing your silver jewellery with moisture absorbing silicone gel packs (e.g. those little packets that are often found in the packaging of new leather shoes and bags) to keep the area around silver as dry as possible.

Acidic conditions can cause tarnish. Individual body chemistry can play its part in tarnishing silver jewellery. Acidity levels between individuals’ skin pH is variable - some can wear silver for years with no reaction and yet others can react with silver to cause tarnish in a matter of hours. In particular, an individual who otherwise can wear silver without reaction may experience what they perceive to be a sudden tarnishing of their silver jewellery during hot weather periods/environments. This is because body perspiration can be acidic causing the tarnish reaction and hot environments result in increased perspiration and also act as an accelerator..  Additionally at these times an individual can become more dehydrated than usual which temporarily increases the acidity level of their perspiration. Contact with a tarnish-causing chemical in one area of the silver can result in the spreading of tarnish to other surface areas where it seemingly may have had no contact if it is not cleaned off at the first sign of tarnish.

What about contact with water?

Water will not in itself cause silver to tarnish, just always remember to dry silver thoroughly after contact with water.  However, as chlorine is another tarnish causing culprit,  it is always recommended to remove silver jewellery before using a swimming pool and if removal is forgotten, rinse off the jewellery and dry thoroughly as soon as possible. Sea water on the other hand is more problematic as the salt (sodium chloride) can not only tarnish the silver but can corrode it and leave small pit marks on the surface.

Removing tarnish

If your silver jewellery is tarnished with a heavy black tarnish, do not despair as there are ways to remove it so that you can enjoy wearing your silver jewellery again. 

Standard polishes and pastes will not be effective in removing heavy tarnish. In such cases, using  'anti-tarnish silver polish tissues’ (wipes) from a well established brand such as ‘Town Talk” will often dissolve and wipe away any tarnish - you will see the tarnish in the form of a black residue on the tissue where the chemical cleaning agent impregnated into the tissue attracts the tarnish away from the silver. These types of tissue are great for smooth areas of silver but can take a bit of work and patience getting into the crevices and difficult to reach areas. Alternatively, a chemical dip for cleaning silver can be used such as ‘Goddards Silver Dip’ available at many major supermarkets and widely available online. This 'dip' works wonders and will bring most tarnished silver jewellery back to its original colour. Removing silver tarnish with chemical dips provides a quick way to dissolve the tarnish on silver.

PLEASE ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURERS RECOMMENDED PROCEDURES AND SAFETY GUIDELINES WHEN USING ANY SILVER CLEANING PRODUCTS, KEEP SAFELY OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN AND IN PARTICULAR WHEN USING CHEMICAL DIPS - never use too much or leave in a chemical dip longer than the recommended timings as corrosion damage may occur.

PROFESSIONAL CLEANING

If you are unable to clean your jewellery yourself to a standard you are satisfied with, many jewellery shops offer a professional cleaning service for a reasonable price. They will use industry professional equipment/machinery and you should expect your jewellery to be thoroughly cleaned and polished to a shine. Always establish the suitability of the method of cleaning they will use for your particular jewellery piece before engaging their services. 

BEST PRACTICE

Apply body creams, perfumes/aftershaves, hairsprays etc before putting your jewellery on.

Give your jewellery a regular clean to remove the build up of daily grime.

And finally, the old saying really does hold true, 'Your jewellery should be the last thing that you put on before going out and the first thing taken off when you arrive back home”