How to Easily Clean Silver Jewelry

Silver jewelry is beautiful and shiny when you first buy it, it's durable and looks great with everything. It will however tarnish easily if left exposed to air and water. The silver rings I wear everyday will become tarnished but there are easy ways to keep them clean.

There are several methods to clean tarnished silver jewelry, these are just a few.

Have a jeweler clean them.

It's easy enough to drop off your jewelry at a jewelry store and have them cleaned for you. Most time it will only cost a minimal amount and you will get your jewelry back shiny and clean.

Toothpaste

Did you know that using baking soda toothpaste and a soft toothbrush can keep your silver jewelry clean? I found this out several years ago and now once a week after I brush my teeth, I use a soft toothbrush just for my rings and the same toothpaste I use for my teeth.

I have seen through trial and error that any toothpaste that has baking soda in it, works best. I have used the gel toothpastes as well and they don't work as well.

The Tin Foil and Salt Method

I recently saw a website called How To Clean Stuff that had this great recipe, "Fill the jar or bowl about half full with hot water.

1. Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the jar or a couple of tablespoons of salt to the bowl and mix to dissolve.
2. Add a few strips of aluminum foil to the jar or cover the bottom of the bowl with a sheet of aluminum foil.
3. Now simply drop your silver jewelry in the water.
4. You can shake it around in the jar or swish it around in the bowl. The aluminum with the salt acts as a magnet, pulling the tarnish off of the silver.
5. Allow the jewelry to set in the saltwater/aluminum foil mixture for a few minutes.
6. Remove and rinse under running water.
7. Repeat as needed until the tarnish is removed.
8. Dry with a soft towel.

I tried this method for a few pieces of my silver jewelry that was extremely tarnished and it worked within seconds for my sterling silver bracelet 2 pairs of sterling silver earrings. I was shocked at how fast this method actually works.

Silver polishes

I used to use a silver polish called Tarn-x, but I stopped using it after the liquid Tarn-x turned my silver ring yellow. You have to be very careful about how you use the liquid Tarn-x because if you don't follow the directions exactly, your silver might turn yellow and while it's hard to polish it back to its original silver color it can be done. You are only supposed to let the Tarn-x liquid sit on the silver for 3 seconds and then wash it off immediately under cold running water. If you don't wash the tarn-x off immediately after you apply it, your silver could turn yellow.

To get the yellow off you have to mix in a small bowl, half Tarn-x and half warm water with 2 drops of dish washing liquid. Wash the jewelry with this mixture and rinse immediately in cold water. This should get rid of the ugly yellow color that the Tarn-x caused.

Milk Based Method

According to Buzzle.com "To make this effective homemade silver polish, you will need 2 cups of whole milk with 5 tsp of cream of tartar and a plastic bowl. Instead of tartar you can use same amount of vinegar or lemon juice as well. Make this mixture and place the pieces of silver in this. Leave it overnight in the mixture. Next morning, wash it with cold water. Wipe with clean, soft cotton cloth to have a shining silver piece right there."

Source:

http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/things/jewelry/how-to-clean-silver-jewelry/

http://www.jelmar.com/faqselect.htm

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/homemade-silver-polish.html