Green Methods to Clean Silver Jewelry

Silver jewelry of any kind is subject to oxidization, a process by which the metal darkens and looses its shine. This not a sign of poor quality, it is the way this metal behaves with time and exposure to air. It must be cleaned in order to keep its original beauty.

It does not matter whether we are cleaning sterling silver or silver plated jewelry, the process is the same. You can find on the market today many products to use in cleaning your jewelry.

Many acceptable and well known brand of products are available. Most of theses products are suitable for cleaning chains and earrings without stones. They do a good job of returning jewelry to a shining original condition.

Any jewelry with semi-precious stones should not be exposed to such harsh products. You could use the special silver cleaning cloths that are found in jewelry stores. These can be expensive, but will do a good job of cleaning your silver.

I do not use such expensive and harsh chemicals. When my silver is oxidized I fall back on my grand-mother’s old tricks. They are cheaper and do wonder for my earrings.

Trick number 1: Lay the earrings on a bath towel. You will need a little toothpaste and a soft toothbrush. Roll a little bit of toothpaste between your fingers and apply it to the silver earrings. Follow this immediately with a gentle scrub with the toothbrush. It is not necessary to scrub hard. Scrub the entire the piece but avoid to scrub the stones. If you rubbed the stones it is not too bad, so do not worry about it. When you are done, rinse your jewelry in warm water. Dry it with the towel and you can again enjoy shiny silver.

The second trick is to use a lemon cut in half. You can rub the silver with a piece of lemon then rinse well with warm water and dry with a soft cloth. Nothing is easier.

Trick number three: Aluminum foil, wrap your silver earrings in a sheet of aluminum foil. Place the wrapped jewelry in a pan filled with salted water and boil for about five minutes. To finish unfold the aluminum, take out the earrings and rinse under warm water.

It happens that for excessively tarnished jewelry these methods are not successful. In this case you can use a product that you use in the house for cleaning glass.

One note of caution, do not use the ultrasonic appliances that are sold for the purpose of cleaning jewelry. These can severely damage your silver. Silver is very affordable metal for jewelry, it is beautiful and with these tips I hope that you will enjoy your earrings for a long time.