The Fight Against Tarnish: How to Keep Your Silver Shining
I have always loved silver jewellery, I prefer it to gold because it ages so well, as long as you're wearing it. So what happens when you don't wear it? Well it develops a patina and then begins to tarnish, which isn't the look you're usually going for when you wear silver jewellery. So How does Tarnishing happen and how can we prevent it?
A Chain Reaction
Most people think that tarnishing occurs due to the oxidisation process that happens when silver is exposed to oxygen in the air over a long period of time. But tarnishing actually occurs when the silver reacts with the sulphur or hydrogen sulphide in the air, however it will also react to other chemicals over a long time span. So wearing your jewellery in pools, baths, doing the washing up, most activities where all or part of your jewellery will be submerged in a mild chemical environment is going to have some effect on the silver.
A Little Bit Of Elbow Grease
So what is the best way to clean off the tarnish? There are a variety of different ways to clean silver jewellery some of the home methods for cleaning can involve making a paste out of baking soda ad smearing that on to the silver, or rubbing toothpaste on to the metal, wetting it to make a paste and then scrubbing it off with a toothbrush. These methods can damage the silver and leave pits in your older silver pieces. Other home methods include a weak bath in washing up liquid or exposing the metal to steam as this supposedly helps break down the harder parts of the tarnish.
The tried and tested method is to use silver polish and an untreated polishing cloth then get to work with some serious elbow grease. If some of the tarnish is a little more stubborn or there are crevasses in the piece you are cleaning you may want to try gently cleaning out the dust with a mushroom brush or a baby's toothbrush before applying the silver polish/paste as the dust can counteract the cleaning effects of the polish. Don't just use any cloth to polish your silver, professional cloths help get rid of dust, grease and fingerprints and will help to leave your silver gleaming.
A Design For Life
Now that you have successfully cleaned your silver how do you keep it at its fresh and new looking status? Well your best bet is to invest in a jewellery box that uses untreated cloths as its interiors, this way no chemicals will be in constant contact with your silver leading you back to that eventual patina. You can also invest in anti tarnishing paper strips and layer your jewellery box with these are easy to get hold of and relatively inexpensive. It is also a good idea to store your pieces in separate small bags with a pieces of the paper as this will reduce any scratches or damages it might collect from rubbing against any other pieces of jewellery you may own.
About the author
Naomi Davis likes to keep a few polishing cloths handy so her silver jewellery can keep up its lustre.Image source
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