Cleaning Sterling Silver Jewellery

Sterling Silver comprises of pure silver and copper. The copper is added to strengthen the silver so it can be used to create intricate shapes but this also leaves the silver more prone to tarnishing. Prevention is always the best cure so lets take a look at the things you can do to stop your sterling silver jewellery from getting heavily tarnished.

• Place your sterling silver jewellery in air tight bags when not being worn
• Don't leave any sterling silver jewellery on wooden or cardboard surfaces as the acid in the wood causes tarnishing
• Store your sterling silver jewellery out of direct sunlight

However all silver will tarnish so occasionally you will need to clean your sterling silver jewellery but by following the points above you can leave your jewellery longer between cleans.

There are plenty of sterling silver cleaning products available to buy but the chances are you probably have something in your kitchen cupboard which will make your sterling silver earrings or other silver jewellery shine like new. So the answer to the question "do I need to buy a silver jewellery cleaner?" is a definite NO.

Plus buy using non chemical cleaners you're helping the environment and it's better for yor own skin and much less likely to cause any irritation.

The video below shows how to clean a silver trophy. I've chosen this video as it's the most dramatic clean up I've ever witness and you can easily see the difference.

The method of cleaning sterling silver shown in the video and be used to clean any sterling silver items such as jewellery. Remember if your cleaning something like a pair of sterling silver earrings which are small then use a cup or something of a similar size as you'll use less foil and baking soda.

I've sucessfully cleaned sterling silver jewellery which also had swarovski crystals or dimante imbeded in to it and the stones haven't been damaged. However there are pieces of silver jewellery which shouldn't be cleaned this way, specifically marcasite jewellery as this method would damage the pyrite.

The longer you keep the piece of sterling silver jewellery in the baking powder solution with the aluminum foil the cleaner it will become.

If you haven't got baking soda in your cupboard but you do have aluminum foil and salt, you can use the salt to replace the baking soda, you will need to leave it over night or longer.

Remember to thoroughly wash off any residue and ensure the jewellery is completely dry before storing it in an air tight container.

If your sterling silver jewellery is only lightly tarnished it may be easier to clean it with a pH neutral soap and warm water by rubbing the jewellery between your fingers. Then polishing with an anti tarnish polishing cloth.