Cleaning Silver Jewelry

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend..."

Back in 1953, Marilyn Monroe had famously crooned these lines as Lorelei Lee in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and made public the secret that lay hidden in every girl's heart until then. Yes, of course I love diamonds too, like most girls, high or low, but when it comes to jewelry other than diamond adorned ones, my vote will unflinchingly go to silver jewelry. I love silver. It is not garish, nor overtly gaudy, but in spite of that just a single piece of silver trinket can add generous oodles of class and sophistication to your appearance. I like gold too, but gold doesn't go with everything and that is gold's folly. I would rather don the subtle yet awesomely stylish white and grayish pieces of silver. But like everything on earth, silver has its own bane. Allow air to kiss your little precious bits and the moisture will happily malign its beauty with ugly blackened patches and spots. But there are perfectly good ways for cleaning silver at home. So, how to clean your precious silver trinkets at home? Let us see.

Ways to Clean Silver Jewelry at Home

As I have quite a few silver trinkets owing to my silver fetish, my mother gave a tip to keep silver rings, pendants and earrings from blackening. You see, if you keep your jewelry dipped in a container of vermilion, then silver doesn't blacken at all. All you need to do is to wipe the red powder off with a dry piece of cloth before wearing them. But now let us see some silver jewelry cleaning tips which will come handy for already tarnished pieces of jewelry.

Silver jewelry can be cleaned with...

... Baking Soda: Take a large vessel and place an aluminum foil plate in it. Fill the vessel half way, with piping hot water and about ¼th cup worth of baking soda and an equal amount of salt. Dissolve the soda completely and then immerse your silver jewelry into this homemade jewelry cleaner. Move it around for a bit and then allow it to stand still for 10 minutes. Now take the jewelry out of this solution and rinse it with running cold tap water and then rub it clean with a soft towel. You are bound to see satisfying results. You can also use only baking soda which will fizz when added to water.

... Vinegar: Mix 2 teaspoonfuls of salt into 2 cups worth of white vinegar and add ½ cup flour to this concoction. You'll get a rather smooth paste which you can then coat your jewelry with and leave it that way for 15 - 20 minutes. Then dip it in warm water to wash away the paste and polish dry with a towel. You can also use this particular silver jewelry cleaner for copper and brass items as well. Even allowing silver jewelry to rest in some vinegar for a couple of hours and then brushing dry also works wonders.

... Gruel: Take the white starchy water that is left behind when you boil rice and immerse your silver jewelry into this gruel for sometime. Then, rub the tarnished areas with a soft bristled brush and after sometime hold it in hot water and rinse. Polish dry with a towel to get back the sheen of your trinkets.

... Toothpaste: As easy as it is, this means is one of the best methods for cleaning silver jewelry naturally. Just take some non-gel white toothpaste and squeeze out some of it on a soft-bristled toothbrush. You can then brush your silver jewelry lightly with the paste and then rinse after 5 - 7 minutes. Pat dry. Be careful to not be too harsh with the brush as brash jewelry cleaning may then result in ruination of your precious jewelry.

... Mild Detergent: Dissolve the detergent in a sink full of hot water and use a soft cloth to wash your silver jewelry in it. Then wash them in cold water and pat dry. This method will however work only if your jewelry is only mildly tarnished.

But I believe that if you store your silver jewelry better, then you will never have to arrive at the query of how to remove tarnish from silver at all. Make sure you always wipe your silver trinkets clean after removing them. This will not only get rid of your perspiration that may have moistened the jewelry, but also remove any material that may have caked your silver by chance, like mayonnaise, latex, or any such sticky item. Store them in box after wrapping them in tissue and make sure you place a bit of chalk or charcoal which can potentially soak up all the moisture in the box.

I hope that you too succeed in keeping all your adornments untarnished for a very long time as by now you know all the possible ways to clean silver. You can always buy silver polish from the market but then, why spend excess money when you can keep your jewelry away from the charred clutches of moisture so that the question of cleaning silver jewelry doesn't arise at all.