Caring For Your Silver
Background Information on Sterling Silver
Sterling silver is composed of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% another metal. Hence the ".925" stamp you can find on most sterling silver pieces. This other metal is added to give strength to the alloy, as pure silver is too soft to be fashioned into jewellery. The added metal is typically copper. Copper, like pure silver, has the benefit of being hypoallergenic, making this combination suitable for the majority of people to wear without any allergic concerns. However the trade off is that copper is highly susceptible to tarnishing, which is why sterling silver tends to oxidise over time.
Sometimes parts of your sterling silver can be intentionally oxidised by the silversmiths in order to accentuate certain details. This is the darkened area typically seen in grooves on your piece. Cleaning and polishing in these areas will result in removal of this darkened look, so be sure to take care when polishing oxidised pieces to avoid these parts. We recommend using a polishing cloth only, so you can clean the raised, polished areas, while keeping away from the intentionally oxidised areas.
Preventative Care
The tarnishing process happens naturally when your piece is exposed to the oxygen in the air, however the reaction can be encouraged and sped up by certain chemicals. Some skin creams, chlorine, and even unbalanced pH levels in your skin can accelerate tarnishing. We strongly recommend you remove your silver jewellery before entering a hot tub as they are notorious for turning sterling silver dark with tarnish in no time, and will require a more difficult cleaning to get its shine back.
Here are our top tips on keeping your pieces shiny:
- Our top tip is simple: wear your jewellery! Sterling silver wants to be shown off. To keep your piece happy and shiny, show it some love and wear it regularly. (The oils in your skin are to thank for this).
- When you are not wearing your piece, keep it away from open air and direct sunlight. Small zip lock plastic bags (like the ones you get with your purchase) work great for this; squeeze the air out, shut it, and tuck it away until next time.
- If you would rather not use plastic bags, keep the little silica gel packs you get from a new pair of shoes inside your jewellery box to absorb moisture out of the air and minimize tarnishing. (Be sure to replace them every so often).
- Avoid wearing your silver while doing household chores. Contact with household chemicals, perspiration, rubber, products containing sulphur, and chlorinated water will react with your sterling silver and cause tarnishing on your favourite piece.
- Make jewellery the finishing touch to your ensemble! Perfumes, hair products and lotions can also accelerate tarnishing, so while getting ready we recommend being silver-free.
Cleaning
Remember, sterling silver tarnishes quicker when in contact with rubber, so avoid wearing rubber gloves while cleaning it!
Here are our top tips for when your piece needs a little TLC.
- For the majority of cleaning (as long as the tarnishing is not too severe), a polishing cloth is just what you need to bring the shine back to your piece! These are generally a microfiber cloth or a lint-free flannel with a cleaning agent on one side (Snazzy Stones offers both these options!). We recommend these types of cloths or another nonabrasive type (avoid items such as paper towels) because sterling silver is so soft, it can easily be scratched from fibers in the material you are using.
- There are a lot of sterling silver dips and polishes that work well in cleaning your items, which can be found at hardware stores. We recommend using them in a well ventilated area, looking into proper disposal methods, and avoid using them for any product with natural stones in it, especially soft, porous stones like pearls, amber, or turquoise. (We are currently working on finding an effective, green polish option for you that works well and keeps you and our planet safe – stay tuned)!
- Transfer the tarnish from your jewellery to a piece of aluminum foil! This option we love especially for chains which can be hard to clean in all those little hard to reach places.
- Place some aluminum foil on the bottom of a small pot or bowl, shiny side up with your piece of sterling silver sitting on top.
- Cover the jewellery with boiling hot water.
- Add around 2 tbsp each of salt and baking soda (or washing soda we find works even better!)
- Mix to dissolve the solution and leave it for 5-10 minutes to work its magic.
- For chains we like to scrub with a soft toothbrush while in the mixture to get into the grooves.
- Rinse and dry your piece with a soft cloth!
- You may have heard before that using toothpaste is also an option for cleaning your sterling silver jewellery. While this is true, the toothpaste this is referring to is non-whitening, non-gel, basic (and getting harder to come by) toothpaste. An alternative to this is using a clean, soft cloth (remember, silver is easily scratched if the cloth is too abrasive) and applying a small amount of paste made from baking soda and water to your piece. If the piece has any indentations, add more water to dilute the paste so it doesn’t stick and dry in the cracks. Rinse and buff with a soft cloth!
- Our last option is ignoring these four prior tips and bringing your sterling silver in to get it professionally cleaned (and promising you will follow the preventative measures next time!). Pop by your local jewelers to get more information.
We hope this helps you in keeping your sterling silver clean and shiny! If you have any tips or tricks you swear by, we would love to hear about them.