How to CLEAN SILVER JEWELRY at home?
Each piece of jewelry which has been worn needs to be cleaned after some time. It's necessary to clean silver jewelry for one simple reason – due to the lower price of silver jewelry, people value it less and therefore it is often worn for activities for which it should be taken off – house work, activities which involve a lot of effort (construction, agriculture, working with chemicals, etc.).
Silver jewelry can become dirty either from ordinary impurities or it can become tarnished, usually caused by a reaction with sulfur oxides. Sulfur oxides can be found in polluted air, some chemicals used at home (e.g. toilet cleaners) and also in some hand creams.
People usually take better care of gold or diamond jewelry, but of course it is natural that over time all jewelry needs cleaning.
Fortunately, there are many ways to restore jewels to their original beauty and luster. Here we will discuss emergency methods of cleaning jewelry at home, without any solutions or cleaning cloths and only with what you can find in the kitchen or pantry.
We definitely recommend testing any cleaning method presented here before use, preferably on a less visible place on the item. For jewelry with sensitive precious stones such as pearls, emeralds, diamonds, etc., never use emergency cleaning. Always take the item of jewelry to a professional goldsmith for cleaning.
Method no. 1 - toothpaste:
Try to clean the item of jewelry with a toothbrush and a small amount of toothpaste. After cleaning, rinse the item in clean water and dry.
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| Cleaning silver jewelry with toothpaste |
Method no. 2 - cigarette ash:
Apply a small amount of cigarette ash to a toothbrush or cloth, very slightly moisten and clean the item of jewelry. After cleaning, rinse the item in clean water and dry.
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| Cleaning silver jewelry with cigarette ash |
Method no. 3 – cleaning agent:
Put a teaspoon of washing up liquid in hot water. Put the item of jewelry into the water and leave there for 15 minutes. Clean the item with a dry toothbrush, rinse in clean water and dry.
Method no. 4 - a chemical reaction (used especially for silver):
a) Cover a metal pot with aluminum foil.
b) At the bottom of the pot, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of salt and put the item of jewelry inside.
c) Pour approx. 1 to 1.5 liters of boiling water into the pot.
d) Wait for about 15 minutes, carefully remove the item, rinse in clean water and shine it using a soft cloth and dry.
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| Cleaning silver jewelry at home - a chemical reaction with baking soda |
See also this video - Cleaning silver with baking soda and aluminum foil (and hot water!)