I recently read a forum post by a person who thought that tarnished jewellery was somehow defective and unwearable … which surprised me rather a lot as to me it seems obvious that silver will naturally tarnish and simply needs to be cleaned periodically.

I’d hope that most people realise at least that much, but reading this got me thinking about how jewellery makers perhaps assume too much knowledge on the part of their customers in terms of caring for their jewellery - especially when it comes to precious metals.

So here is some information about caring for your precious metal (especially sterling silver) jewellery which I hope readers will find helpful.

As an aside, I’ve recently added Sunshine brand polishing cloths to my shop which can be used to clean any precious metal. At the moment I’m also including one as a gift for those who spend over US$80 in my handmade jewelry shop.

tarnish

All precious metals can tarnish to even a minor degree. Platinum and pure gold are the most tarnish-resistant metals - the keyword here being ‘resistant’. Pure or fine silver is often said not to tarnish, but that isn’t true - it can and does tarnish, just a lot more slowly and in a less noticeable way than sterling silver.

Of all precious metals, sterling silver is the one which is most notorious for issues with tarnishing. This is because it has copper mixed in with the silver which has the benefit of making the metal harder and therefore more suitable for a wider variety of uses than very soft pure silver, but the downside is that copper tarnishes very easily.

There are some things that a jewellery maker can do in the right circumstances to help slow down or reduce the tarnishing of sterling silver items they make, such as repeated heating and chemical cleaning to reduce the amount of copper on the surface of the metal or coating pieces with a special wax. But chances are that even using these methods the metal will still need to be cleaned at some stage in the future.

What causes tarnishing? Basically, it’s caused by oxygen and moisture coming into contact with the metal - which gives a clue as to how to slow it down!

storing your jewelry

You can slow tarnish building up on the surface of your jewellery simply by wearing it frequently. The action of your skin or clothing moving against it and - in some cases - the metal moving against itself will help remove the tarnish on an ongoing basis.

Note that a small minority of people find that some metals will react to the chemicals released by their skin and they may find tarnishing or discolouration of metal will happen as a result of wearing it.

If you aren’t going to be wearing a piece for a while, then the best thing is to try to keep it isolated from too much fresh air and moisture. Ziplock plastic bags do wonders, especially if they’re as small as possible for the piece - and you can purchase anti-tarnish versions of these bags if you wish.

But for a more ‘elegant’ solution, simply using a pouch will help (again anti-tarnish versions are available) or even a jewellery box of some sort which closes well.

You can also purchase anti-tarnish strips to put inside pouches or jewellery boxes which can also help. Use of humidity absorbers near to where you are storing your jewellery can also make a difference if you live in a humid place.

cleaning your jewelry

polishing cloths

Specialist polishing cloths are generally the safest solution for cleaning precious metals. The cloths are soft and non-abrasive and are impregnated with chemicals which assist with cleaning tarnish from metal. You simply rub the cloth against the piece until it appears clean.

The cloths can be used until they are entirely blackened - it’s important to note that they cannot be washed without losing their effectiveness.

You can also gently use polishing cloths on metal which has recessed areas which have been blackened or otherwise coloured, such as this etched pendant. Using liquid chemicals on such jewellery pieces is not recommended.

The recessed areas of this etched sterling silver cuff have been chemically blackened to make the pattern stand out.

silver dip and other liquid cleaners

Using a quality silver dip is the fastest and easiest way to clean sterling silver as you only need to immerse the piece in the dip for a few seconds in order to remove tarnish. But it’s important to note that it’s not the best cleaning solution in all circumstances.

Most importantly, metals which have been patinated or ‘oxidized’ (chemically blackened) should not be cleaned with dip or other cleaning liquids as they can easily remove these elements of the design.

These chemicals should also not come into contact with textiles, for instance the silk thread used in many of the neckpieces I make.

Intricately cut out heart pendant suspended from a necklace made with natural silk thread.

It’s also important to thoroughly rinse any cleaning chemicals from the piece afterwards - these chemicals are generally toxic and you won’t want to be wearing them!

It’s a good idea to buy a respected brand name dip and it’s essential that you read any instructions that come with it. And the same goes for other types of liquids used to clean a variety of metals.

ultrasonic cleaners

These days there are some inexpensive ultrasonic cleaners available on the market and if you have detailed pieces of jewellery which can trap grime, getting an ultrasonic cleaner is a great idea. They will clean your jewellery (generally!) without damaging the surface. Note that these cleaners will not remove tarnish.

Ultrasonic cleaners work by creating miniscule bubbles which burst on the surface of anything submerged in them, which dislodges any loose particles.

Again, any instructions should be observed and it’s strongly suggested you don’t put pearls in particular into one of these cleaners.

Also, I would not recommend using an ultrasonic cleaner on a piece with coloured or blackened areas as part of the design - it may be safe to do so, but you may well damage or even remove the colouring.

baking soda paste or toothpaste

A traditional cleaning solution for silver items particularly has been to use a paste made with baking soda or toothpaste. This will clean your jewellery or other silver items, but it’s really not recommended. This is because these methods are abrasive and will damage the surface of the metal.

You may not necessarily notice this, particularly if the piece does not have a high shine, but each time you do it you are removing metal from the surface. Over time this will become more of an issue, so it’s particularly important not to use these cleaning methods if you’d like the piece to be handed down through your family.

soap and water

Soap and water won’t remove tarnish from the surface of metal, but jewellery can get grimey from ordinary wear, so giving it a clean occasionally is a good idea even if it isn’t tarnished. You may use a soft cloth or a soft plastic bristled brush (but note that this will mark the surface of highly polished pieces) to help clean the piece.

This is also a great way to clean most gemstones and glass beads. However, I recommend you research cleaning individual gemstone types if you are worried about damaging them - more porous gemstones such as turquoise and pearls should be treated with more care than more hard-wearing stones.

Be sure not to use cleansers with chlorine bleach in them as in the right circumstances they can leave unwanted black marks on your metal.

general care

The most important general care instruction I can give is to simply not think of your jewellery as being invincible! I’m sure it’s common sense to know that it can and will get damaged - perhaps irreversibly - if certain considerations are not taken.

In particular, don’t expect your jewellery to take an unreasonable amount of weight or force. If your jewellery is delicate, be careful not to store it with heavier items on top of it or in a place where it might get broken or bent against another surface. And of course don’t allow it to rub up against harder metals or other surfaces which will scratch it.