Silver Care Instructions
Preventive care
Just wear it!: You can prevent your silver jewelry from tarnishing by wearing it often.
Avoid exposure to what may harm silver: Remove silver jewellery when doing household chores, cooking, swimming and sunbathing. (direct sunlight, chemicals, perspiration, rubber, chlorinated water, sulphur cause corrosion and tarnish).
Put your jewelry as at the end of your dressing up and make up routine – after you’ve applied all lotions, cosmetics, perfumes.
Storage properly: As exposure to air tarnishes it, storing silver in airtight plastic bags with anti-tarnish strips is a great preventative measure. Just make sure you don’t store multiple jewelry pieces in the same bag: silver is a soft metal, so the individual pieces can scratch each other. Link or chain bracelets should be kept unclasped or unhooked to prevent scratching as well. If you can’t use plastic bags, try to make sure that the storage area has low humidity. You can also place a piece of chalk, a packet of activated charcoal, or a container of silica gel in the storage area to minimize tarnish.
Cleaning and Polishing
Use a special cloth destined for jewelry cleaning and polishing. They’re easily available and guarantee that you’ll not destroy the surface of your jewelry pieces.
Do not use paper towels or tissues to polish your jewellery as their fibres can scratch the surface.
While polishing, use long, smooth motions, do not rub in circles.
Clean gold-plated silver and oxidized silver in a specially delicate, so as not to remove the plating and in case of oxidized, to do not remove all the oxidized surface that was originally made to obtain that effect of 'old' silver and give better visibility to the shapes.
Commercial Cleaners
Use always according to the instructions provided by the producer. In case of the jewelry with gemstones, check if the cleaner can be used to clean them too (some gems, like opal, turquoise, coral, amber and others, are very delicate and might be damaged)
Home-made Cleaners
If the silver pieces are just slightly tarnished, it may be enough to wash them in gentle dish-washing liquid and then buff with a soft cloth.
If the jewelry is more tarnished already, you may try to use an aluminum pan or a dish lined with aluminum foil, fill it with hot water, then add salt and baking soda, stirring gently until dissolved. Place your silver pieces into water and leave them for about 30 minutes or more, depending on how tarnished your jewelry is. Take out and buff with a soft cloth.
Notes: This method is not appropriate for jewelry with gemstones, especially those delicate ones.