Jewelry Care: Sterling Silver

With the rising prices in gold over the past several years, many people have rediscovered the beauty and elegance of sterling silver. With a long history in the world of jewelry, silver is making a comeback in the hearts and minds of jewelry lovers. Silver offers customers many unique and exquisite styles all at an incredibly affordable price, which has resulted in an explosion of options within the realm of silver jewelry. Not surprisingly, a common question has begun to surface from fans of silver: how do I keep my silver jewelry clean? Since it looks like silver jewelry is only going to grow in popularity in the coming years, this is a great question to answer. Let’s take a look at what’s in silver jewelry to better understand how to keep it clean. We’ll also look at some surprising home remedies that you can test out as well!

Today, silver jewelry is commonly called sterling silver. Sterling silver is a combination of silver (92.5%) and copper (7.5%). Traces of nickel can occasionally be found in sterling silver jewelry as well. Sterling silver jewelry is the whitest of the white metals used in jewelry making, which gives it a wonderfully distinctive look. Over time, however, sterling silver reacts with moisture in the air which produces a layer on the surface called oxidation or tarnish. It is this buildup of tarnish that detracts from the beauty of the piece, and that’s no good!

Fortunately, the easiest way to remove tarnish is by simply using a polishing cloth. You can bring your sterling silver jewelry into your local Shane Co to have one of our associates polish it for you, and we can also provide a complimentary polishing cloth for use at home. Generally speaking, we recommend against using jewelry cleaner on your sterling silver pieces, as it tends to react poorly with the silver and can cause discoloration.

Over the years, I have heard of several creative “do-it-yourself” approaches to cleaning sterling silver. One of the more popular approaches is to use a small amount of toothpaste, mix it with a little water, and lightly scrub the mixture onto the silver piece. Let it soak for five to ten minutes and then rinse off under tap water. I recently had a customer tell me that she uses a combination of baking soda and aluminum to remove particularly stubborn areas of tarnish. According to her, the method is as follows: place your jewelry piece into a bowl, and pour boiling water into the bowl until the piece is entirely covered. Add baking soda to the bowl (about a tablespoon seems to work) and a strip of aluminum foil. The mixture should bubble and give off a strong odor – think rotten eggs! You should move the jewelry around to make sure all of it comes into contact with the aluminum, as that will help remove areas of tarnish. Afterward, remove the jewelry and rinse off under tap water, and voila! Your jewelry should be back to its brilliant white look again.

If a polishing cloth doesn’t do the trick, maybe one of these methods can bring back some of the life that sterling silver so characteristically displays. If you blow up your kitchen, though, don’t say I didn’t warn you!