Sterling Silver Jewelry Care
1. “Store your silver jewelry in a cool, dry place.” Sterling silver will tarnish; it is a fact of life. You can, however, slow down the process by wearing it and storing it properly. Huh? Wearing your jewelry on a regular basis will actually coat the silver with oils from your skin and slow down the oxidation. Storing it in a cool, dry place will minimize the moisture available to react with the silver when it is not being worn.
2. “Remove your jewelry while cleaning, swimming, or taking a shower.” We have discussed that sterling silver will tarnish. There is no faster way to speed the process than to wear it while swimming or cleaning with chemicals. Strong chemicals (especially chlorine) reacts with the silver and causes immediate oxidation. In fact, it oxidizes so fast that it pits the surface and can’t be cleaned or buffed back to its original luster.
3. “Remove jewelry while sleeping.” Most of my jewelry is strung on a wire. It is the highest quality wire available and has a 40 pound test strength. But like anything else, it will wear out over time. The more pulling and tugging it receives, the faster it will wear out. It is best to leave your jewelry in a cool, dry place while sleeping to avoid this unnecessary strain.
4. “Periodically clean jewelry with warm soapy water and a SOFT toothbrush. Rinse thoroughly and dry completely.” Warm soapy water will usually remove the light layer of tarnish that causes your jewelry to look less than new. A soft toothbrush is more than sufficient to buff the surface. Make sure you dry it completely after cleaning. Water left inside the beads could begin to corrode the wire. Simply shake your jewelry inside a towel to remove the droplets remain behind.
5. “Never use a silver polishing cloth on Swarovski crystals (our Sunshine Polishing Cloth is gentle enough to use on all our jewelry).” A silver polishing cloth has tiny abrasives that buff the tarnish off silver making it look like new. However, those same abrasives will scratch the surface of our Swarovski crystals causing them to look dull. Our Sunshine Polishing Cloth is, however, gentle enough to use on the crystals and tough enough to remove tarnish with 1-2 swipes.
6. “Never let your jewelry soak in water.” See item 4 above. Leaving water inside the beads for a long period of time will corrode the wire.
7. “Never use any kind of jewelry cleaners or dips.” Never and any are the operative words here - not even “sterling silver cleaners” should be used. Jewelry cleaners and dips contain chemicals that could remove the dark areas (oxidation) on letter beads and Bali beads. They could also cause the same pitting mentioned above with chlorine and household cleaners. PLEASE don’t take matters into your own hands. If you feel you need to take drastic measures to clean your jewelry, contact me, and I will do my best to help.
