How to clean silver jewelry with home remedies: Make your favorite earrings, silver necklace, etc. shiny again!
In This Article
- What you should consider when cleaning silver jewelry
- How to clean silver jewelry with aluminum foil?
- You can clean silver with ketchup
- Get black silver shiny again with white wine vinegar
- Use rinse aid for polishing
- Use toothpaste to restore heavily tarnished silver to its former glory
- Get silver jewelry with precious stones beautiful again
- How to clean antique silver?
- Cleaning silver jewelry: When gold-plated silver tarnishes
Tarnished silver is not a pleasant sight. Do you know how to clean silver jewelry with home remedies? We shall list several tricks and give useful tips to make your favorite necklace, earrings or friendship ring shiny again.
What you should consider when cleaning silver jewelry
There are numerous home remedies that are suitable for cleaning metal. However, you should only treat new silver with it, as you can damage antique jewelry.
Each piece of silver jewelry consists of up to 80% fine silver and 20% of other metals. This proportion can vary with antique silver. In addition, different metals were added depending on the era. Some of them are very sensitive to certain chemicals or home remedies. Therefore, at the end of the article we shall give you special care tips for vintage jewelry.
How to clean silver jewelry with aluminum foil?
But first, let’s focus on silver jewelry made in the last 50 to 70 years. Aluminum foil is perfect for cleaning silver jewelry. There are several options:
- Aluminum Foil and Dish Soap: This trick is perfect for tarnished silver jewelry. Line a bowl with aluminum foil and fill it with hot water. Add a tablespoon of dish soap to the water and stir until it dissolves. Place the jewelry in the water and leave it there for several minutes. Take the jewelry with clean tongs (for example, plastic grill tongs). Then place the jewelry on a clean cotton cloth and let them dry.
- Aluminum Foil and Baking Soda or Baking powder: Line a large saucepan with aluminum foil (shiny foil side up). Use glass or ceramic pots or bowls. Fill the jar with water and add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the water. Bring the water to a boil and add the silver. Leave the jewelry in the water for 15 seconds take it out with the grill tongs Place the jewelry on paper towels and let it dry. You can then repeat the process if necessary.
You can clean silver with ketchup
It may sound strange, but you can perfectly clean tarnished silver with ketchup. Put 1 drop of ketchup on kitchen paper and rub it on the jewelry. If the silver is tarnished, then apply the ketchup directly on the jewelry and leave it for fifteen minutes.
Get black silver shiny again with white wine vinegar
Place the silver jewels in a bowl and pour white wine vinegar over them. Add 4 tsp baking soda per 200ml/7 fl oz white wine vinegar to the water. Leave the silver jewelry in the solution for about an hour. Then rinse them with cold water and lay them on a clean towel to dry.
Use rinse aid for polishing
You can also clean new silver jewelry with rinse aid. Simply spray the jewelry with it and rub it with a clean cotton cloth. You can also use a toothbrush for ornaments and small details.
Use toothpaste to restore heavily tarnished silver to its former glory
Heavily tarnished or discolored silver can also be cleaned with whitening toothpaste. Put a bit of toothpaste (no gel, no abrasive) on a cotton cloth and rub the jewelry with it. Leave the toothpaste on for about 5 minutes, then rinse.
Get silver jewelry with precious stones beautiful again
Jewelry containing precious stones should be cleaned very carefully. For example, an ammonia solution will get the metal shiny clean, but it will damage the gems.
- Silver jewelry with hard gemstones is cleaned in a silver bath.
- Silver jewelry with soft gemstones is cleaned with soapy water.
How to clean antique silver?
Use pH neutral dishwashing detergent to remove deposits from the antique silver and restore the metal to its former glory. Fill a plastic bowl with warm water, add several squirts of dish soap and stir until completely dissolved. Then put the silver in the water and let it soak there for 10 minutes. Then wipe it off with silver polishing gloves.
You can find silver polishes in stores. However, they are not suitable for antique jewelry as they are abrasive. It is much better if you use a cotton cloth and try to treat the old silver as gently as possible.
Cleaning silver jewelry: When gold-plated silver tarnishes
By the way, gold-plated silver can also tarnish if the gold layer is removed with abrasive cleaning agents. Use mild dish soap, dissolve it in the water and put the gilded silver into the water. Leave it in the detergent on for about 10 minutes, then gently wipe the jewelry dry with a microfiber cloth. If this mild care does not solve the problem, then go to the jeweler. Otherwise you risk damaging the upper golden protective layer.