Today we want to share with you basic caring tips for silver jewelry. Silver jewelry exists in various forms. There is pure silver and sterling silver. The sterling silver is a composition of 92.5 % pure silver and 7.5%, copper.
Many people are accustomed to accessorizing at all times. Silver is one of the most common accessories that you will usually find in one’s collection.
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Silver rings for women are a great fashion statement. Nowadays, most women prefer silver to gold. It is popular among women because it is easily accessible, affordable, and malleable.
You must have realized that after wearing your silver pieces for some time, they turned dirk or appeared dirty. The act of the silver metals turning dark is tarnishing. The best and the only way you can restore them to their shiny and luster state is by cleaning and polishing them.
Caring Tips for Silver Jewelry
Owning silver jewelry may have placed you in a very difficult state of not knowing how to care for, clean, and maintain them. Here are some bits of advice to guide you into knowing how to care for and maintain your pieces of silver jewelry.
1. Wearing advice
- When handling household chores, you should keep the silver jewelry at bay. Remove them to prevent the jewelry from coming into contact with chemicals such as sulfur, which is present in cleaning chemicals. Also, the water may be containing chlorine. Sulfur and chlorine react badly with silver and may result in their
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corrosion. - It is also advisable to avoid being in direct contact with the sun when wearing silver jewelry. That is because the sun rays are strong and can cause the silver to tarnish.
- It is always good to adorn your silver jewelry last, that is after you have applied make-up, body lotion, and perfumes, and allowed them to dry. This will reduce the rate at which the silver jewelry tarnishes.
- Another care tip is to always wear your silver jewelry. Funny enough, is that storing your jewelry for long without wearing it may cause it to tarnish.
2. Cleaning advice
Cleaning silver jewelry at home is possible. You only need to abide by your jeweler’s home cleaning advice.
- Clean using soap and water. You can make this your first and most preferred sure way of removing tarnish from silver jewelry.
- You can choose to use a mix of baking soda and water to clean the tarnished silver metals. You only need to make a little paste from baking soda and water and then get a soft cloth, dip it in the paste and gently rub the silver jewelry.
- A mix of baking soda and white vinegar can also be utilized. This is very effective when dealing with heavy tarnish. You only need ½ cup of vinegar and two tablespoons of baking soda. Soak the silver jewelry in the mixture for two to three hours. After that pat the jewelry and use a clean soft cloth to dry it.
- Finish the cleaning process by polishing the silver jewelry. You can accomplish this by using a polishing cloth that is designed for silver.
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Maintain the cleaning process and do it as often as desired. Do not allow too much tarnish to form on the silver jewelry, as this may make the above cleaning methods ineffective in a single wash, necessitating repeated washes which is no easy task.
3. Storage advice
- Store the silver jewelry in airtight containers. Any storage containers can be used, but a designated jewelry bag can be more attractive.
- Keep the silver jewelry in a cool and dark place. That is because you must not expose them to tarnish fastening elements like light, moisture, and heat.
- You can put in the storage box the anti-tarnish strips to prevent the silver jewelry from tarnishing.
- Avoid storing them in boxes with paper, cardboard of cotton. All these may contain sulfur which may contribute to tarnish.
Conclusion
Caring for and maintaining silver metals is mostly about preventing them from tarnishing. The best way you can care for and maintain silver jewelry is by preventing exposure of the silver pieces to tarnish fastening elements like moisture, light, and heat.
Read more jewelry articles at ClichéMag.com
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