Are you tired of your much-loved jewelry getting tarnished? Well, worry no more as this article teaches you about the various cleaning methods and how to take care of the jewelry. This piece is about silver, how to address its tarnishing, how to clean, polish and protect your favorite silver jewelry.
Silver reacts when it gets to contact with sulfur. What’s strange about this element is that it exists everywhere. Humans have used it for decades. It is present in the air that we breathe, it exists in the soil, it is in the ordinary cosmetics and beauty products, fertilizers, smoke, foods, and so much more.
Even though this element is everywhere and cannot be avoided, the good news is that you can polish, clean and protect your silver jewelry from tarnishing very fast. However, you need to be careful when it comes to jewelry containing pearls, stones or glass. Some of these materials can be damaged by metal cleaners, so you need to do extra research before you clean them. Better still, you can simply spot clean only the metallic areas.
Cloths and Pads for Polishing Silver
You can use either a piece of cloth or a pad for silver cleaning and polishing. It is advisable to rub the tarnished areas using the cloth. This cleaning method is however ideal for silver jewelry with smooth surfaces like wire, blanks, and sheet. Additionally, you can use fabric or pad polishing for items with stones which might get spoilt by chemicals. Whenever you are polishing, try to avoid the sensitive parts.
Use of Dip and Spray to Clean Silver Jewelry
When cleaning silver materials with more relief, texture, and details, you need a dip or a spray. This way, you have the options of either spraying or soaking the jewelry for about 1-2 minutes, then rinse, and wipe it off using soft fabric and that’s all. Dip and Spray is the best method for cleaning detailed silver rings, chains or pendants wholly made of silver.
Protecting your Silver Item
Use of the anti-tarnishing materials helps to slow down the tarnishing process of silver items. This can be done by simply storing the silver item you have with an anti-tarnish product. This is what makes the difference and don’t forget to check out your shelf life and change them right at the moment you spot the first tell-tale tarnishing signs.
Argentium anti-tarnish
Argentium is another anti-tarnish option you can use to slow down tarnishing for silver materials. When you remove some copper and replace it with the germanium, Argentium sterling silver is produced. It is a product of silver that is resistant to tarnish. It is resistant since it takes a longer time before it tarnishes or maybe it can tarnish when exposed to intense sulfur. Nevertheless, Argentium is more expensive and harder to find than the sterling silver.
Generally, silver can be a trouble if you don’t know how to take care of it. However, when you know what your silver jewelry means to you, then it is worth all the care you can provide to have it last.