Day-to-Day Care Of Silver Jewellery
Whilst silver is a metal, it requires a little care and thought to keep it looking at as good as when you first received it. When looked after correctly, silver has a luxurious lustre but without correct maintenance, it tarnishes as the silver reacts with the sulphur and other pollution in the air and discolors the surface. The higher the pollution in the air, the greater the tarnish so you have to take a little extra care if you live in a city.
This need not spoil your enjoyment of your jewellery, however, because with a few easy steps, all your jewellery can be as good as new and just as stunning as when you first bought it.
Firstly, prevention is better than a cure. When storing your silver items, try and keep it out of the air as much as you can and make sure its dry possibly in a press sealable plastic bag as humidity can increase the tarnishing process.
To keep that nice, rich shine use a soft cotton cloth or a jewelry cloth to polish and buff your jewelry. Just a few seconds can achieve a lot but if theres a lot of tarnish or your piece has hard to get to places (such as a chain or necklace where its awkward to get in between the links) it may be required to use a dip. Each brand differs slightly so always read the directions but, generally, you submerse your piece of silver for 10 seconds and immediately on taking it out, wash with cold, running water and dry and buff with a jewellers or cotton cloth. Dont leave your piece of jewelry in the dip for too long it can lave a deposit and, also, dont use with gemstones as this can damage them.
Lastly, while silver is quite hardy there are certain chemicals that can damage it such as immersing it in chlorine (such as swimming pool water), salt water and sun tan lotion. Also be careful of household cleaners; all of these can damage the shine of your silver jewelry.
So, with a little time you can prolong the life of your jewelry and your necklaces, bracelets, earrings will look stunning for many years to come.
Find more silver to practice cleaning at
Milton Gems Silver Jewellery or try your hand at
Amber Zone Silver Jewellery
