I mostly work with sterling silver, one of the most beautiful and lustrous of all metals. But lets face it. It tarnishes. Especially when exposed to salt air, lotions, perfumes, sweat, hard chemicals or cleaners. There are ways to prevent tarnish from happening and, with proper care, your silver will retain its beauty and life for many years.

Let your skin dry

Two mistakes when getting ready are applying body lotions or spraying perfume or hairspray with our jewelry on. Avoid this at all cost. It will not only tarnish your jewelry, but it could also ruin it. Change your morning routine allowing lotions and perfumes time to dry before adding your accessories.

How to clean your silver jewelry

If your jeweler of choice (a.k.a: ME) lives far away and she can’t professionally clean your AWL jewelry for you (for free), then grab a Tupperware, fill it with warm water and add 4 drops of Dawn dish detergent. Soak your jewelry and clean it using a soft toothbrush. Rinse well and dry with a towel. When at home, always wash your silver by hand with a mild detergent. Never ever use bleach, sulfur, ammonia, or other harsh chemicals unless you want ruin your jewelry.

Polish with a jewelry cloth and the original luster will pop out again. Fun fact:  I include complimentary silver cleaning cloths in all my online orders!  If your jewelry is scratched from normal use, the polishing cloth will only enhance these scratches. If these scratches are too deep, take the piece to your jeweler for some TLC.

Use warm water, soap and a toothbrush to clean your jewelry at home.

Oxidized Finish

Some jewelry has been purposely given an “oxidized” finish. Excessive cleaning will remove the blackening given to silver object to make its decorative details stand out more clearly. Be especially careful when cleaning these pieces, as you could remove the details completely. If you do, you know where to find me! 🙂

Silver teardrop earrings with oxidized finish.

Storing Silver

Once cleaned and polished, silver must be kept dry and properly stored. When you come home from a long day, don’t just take your jewelry off an leave it laying around for days, as it will speed up the tarnishing process. Put it back in the cute AWL box it came in (or in your own jewelry box) and it will protect it from abrasion and offer a degree of tarnish prevention.

AWL jewelry in cute boxes.

If you threw the cute box away (I know you didn’t but lets pretend), put it in your jewelry storage box. You don’t have one? Put it in a baggie. No baggie? A cheap and fast solution is buying a thin plastic tackle box. It not only keeps your jewelry properly stored, but you’ll be more organized and less prone to losing and earring. Works wonders.

Remember, If you don’t want to do all of this, I got your back. I offer FREE cleaning and jewelry maintenance for all my Always With Love customers.

Love,

AWL