Cleaning Sterling Silver Jewellery 13th February 2021 – Posted in: Jewellery care, News – Tags: cleaning, cleaning sterling silver jewellery, DIY tips, Giu Wakeling Silver Collection, Guy Wakeling Jewellery, Guy’s Signature Collection, jewellery care, Kit Heath, love your jewellery, self cleaning jewellery, sterling silver
I absolutely adore Silver Jewellery. There’s something about that calls to me. The luminosity of the material, the intricate designs and of course, the price. If you follow any of our social media channels or are a frequent visitor to our website, you will have noticed that five of our in store brands use Sterling Silver as a main material for their jewellery. Guy Wakeling Silver Collection, Kit Heath, Chlobo, Unique and For Diamond. There are many different designs in each brand so you can rest assured there are many different pieces to choose from
Guy Wakeling Silver collection, Kit Heath, Chlobo, Unique & Co and D for Diamond utilise this lovely material and create some fantastic pieces of jewellery to suite any style and taste. Though as consumers we love this radiant looking material, it is an unfortunate fact that many of us fail to clean it and look after it as we should. Luckily Sterling Silver is super easy to maintain and keep clean.
THE T WORD
There’s one word that stops us in our tracks when it comes to silver jewellery. TARNISH. Tarnishing is when silver comes into contact with sulphur or oxygen. This chemical reaction, though slow, causes Silver jewellery to become discoloured and dirty looking over time, This chemical reaction is often increased by the amount of cosmetic and chemical products we used on a day to day basis. Something we want avoid, though it would be easy enough to say, remove all your silver jewellery before getting in the shower or cleaning or put your jewellery on after you’ve sprayed your perfume, but a lot of the time this just isn’t practical.
WORD TO THE WISE.
If you have any antique or particularly fragile pieces of silver then I would not recommend any of these cleaning methods, instead I would advise taking those pieces to a professional Jeweller to be cleaned properly, safely and specifically for that particular piece. Though the majority of Sterling Silver jewellery is 925 (hallmark) some Sterling Silver may be 950 (hallmark). This is an indication of the purity of the silver. If you have Sterling Silver which is hallmarked 950 then please do take extra care as it will tarnish quicker and is generally more bendable.
OLD WIVES TALES.
Cleaning Silver is one of those tasks where old wives tales are for once actually true and rather useful and there are quite a few of them. These are great as they are everyday products, you are more than likely to have them in your cupboards already. Here are my top 5 favourites.
White Vinegar and Baking Soda.
Soak your pieces of jewellery in 1/2 cup of White Vinegar and add 2 tbsp of Baking Soda once the jewellery is in the vinegar. There will be a lot of fizzing and foaming, but this reaction is the magic behind this clean. This is also a great one to do with the kids as it feels like a science experiment and is super fun! Leave your jewellery in the mixture for 1 hour, after this rinse and dry well with a soft cloth.
Water and Baking Soda.
Add baking soda to tepid water to form a paste, depending on how much you need is dependant on how much your going use. Apply the paste onto your piece of jewellery and allow to sit for 2-3 minutes, then rub off with a soft cloth in a circular motion. Rinse and dry well with a soft cloth.
Cornflour and Water.
This is very similar to the Water and Baking Soda technique. Form a paste using Cornflour and Water, apply this onto your jewellery and allow to completely dry. Once dry, take off with a cloth and rub off any excess with a soft cloth.
Toothpaste.
This is the one everyone’s heard of! Use a small amount of non-gel, non abrasive tooth (usually the cheaper the better) on a soft cloth, rub this on your jewellery in a circular motion to polish and remove tarnish. Leave for a few minutes then rinse and dry well, again with a soft cloth.
Window Cleaner.
Spray a small amount on to a soft cloth and rub onto the silver jewellery using a circular motion. Once you feel the tarnish is removed or the jewellery has been cleaned, rinse under tepid water and dry well.
Silver Cleaners.
A few commercial jewellers such as Pandora and H. Samuel produce and sell their own brand of silver jewellery cleaner (which comes in a cute little kit), these are great, easy to use and simple to get hold of. Please be weary of using industrial silver cleaners as strength may vary and products may not always be suitable for all types of Silver (particular jewellery) if you are unsure, then please speak to a professional jeweller.
How to store.
If you are not wearing your silver jewellery as an everyday piece, then it would be a good idea to store this jewellery in a jewellery box or draw that is away from direct sunlight, I would also recommend to place sterling silver jewellery on a soft fabric or cloth when storing and away from other pieces. This is simply due to the softness of the metal and helps to avoid surface scratches which can effect the appearance and overall finish of the jewellery. We would also recommend putting a piece of chalk or one of those little silica gel packets in with your silver jewellery too, these are super absorbent and will help keep moisture away.
If you are unsure about cleaning your Sterling Silver jewellery then please get in contact with us. CLICK HERE.
Here as Guy Wakeling Jewellery we do provide a Jewellery Cleaning service, for any further information please CLICK HERE.
If you have any enquiries about any jewellery services or any of the products featured then please CLICK HERE
I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog and that you are inspired to give your Sterling Silver Jewellery a spruce up. It’s good fun and something to do that every the kids can join in with.
Stay Safe and Take Care.