A Guide to Caring for Your Sterling Silver Jewelry

Sterling silver is beautiful and popular metal for making jewelry as well as loads of other decorative objects. This guide provides some basic information about the metal and how to care for it so it can last a lifetime.

What is sterling silver?
Sterling silver is made up of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper (the 925 marking on silver is due to this 92.5% of silver). This is called an alloy. I wrote about alloys of gold in a blog post called Gold Demystified. Basically, it means that sterling silver alone would be too malleable and lose its shape when worn, so harder metals are added to make a more durable material.

What causes sterling silver to tarnish?
Tarnish is a dull, gray or black coating that forms on the surface of silver. This is a natural process. It's a chemical reaction to the copper that's in the alloy. There are several things that can cause tarnish to occur:

• Humidity (moisture)

• Salty air and seawater (prolonged or repeated exposure could cause corrosion)

• Chlorine (prolonged or repeated exposure could cause corrosion)

• Perspiration and oils from your skin

• Household bleach and other cleaners (prolonged or repeated exposure could cause corrosion)

• Exposure to hydrogen sulfide (this includes air!)

• Contact with beauty products, printed papers, exhaust, rubber, leather, cellophane, and smoke. (This really amounts to exposure to various chemicals that go into making these products. Those chemicals react to the silver.)

How to remove tarnish from your sterling silver jewelry:

(Please note that this is for sterling silver jewelry that has no gemstones or pearls. It’s possible to damage pearls and some gemstones with soaking or brushing. Also, if anything is glued onto your piece of jewelry this will likely loosen it! And if the piece is darkened on purpose with a patina finish, do not follow these instructions.)

•  Wipe the piece of jewelry with a polishing cloth to remove tarnish. This will often make a huge difference in slightly oxidized, slightly dirty silver jewelry. I just follow up with a clean micro cloth. The polishing cloth will leave a very thin layer of tarnish retardant, so it should take a little longer for it to tarnish.

If your piece is dirty, as in actual mud or dirt on it, you might want to gently wash it first:

• Mix warm water and a splash of mild dishwashing soap in a small bowl. Let the piece of jewelry sit in the solution for 5-10 minutes. Remove it and gently wipe with a cloth. Some people recommend that you gently brush with a soft toothbrush. I keep an old toothbrush (well-marked so no one accidentally uses it to brush their teeth!) on hand just for this purpose. Rinse and see if that did the trick. You can start the process over if there’s some stubborn dirt or debris. After rinsing it well, dry the jewelry with a microfiber cloth or clean, old t-shirt (I keep one of these on hand for this too). Then follow up with a polishing cloth.

For a patina piece of jewelry, simply wipe it with a clean, dry microfiber cloth or clean, old t-shirt material. Otherwise, you will remove the patina that the jeweler created intentionally. Learn more about this and other jewelry finishes in this Guide to Finishes.

Preventing tarnish:
Now that your silver is clean and shiny again, store it in a way to prevent tarnish. Here are ways to do that:

1. Store it in a dry space. Don’t store it in the bathroom or other humid room.
2. Avoid all those causes (listed at the beginning of this post) as much as possible. Obviously, we will expose our silver to air, moisture and plenty of other things that can cause tarnish. Just make sure to occasionally wipe it down with a microfiber cloth after wearing and before storing it for the night.
3. If you wear a piece of jewelry all the time, take a moment to wipe it or clean it from time to time. It will last longer and stay in better shape, thus avoiding the need to have it repaired.
4. Consider storing your jewelry in a little zipped plastic bag with an anti-tarnish strip, silica gel pack or chalk to prevent tarnish. Some people like a flannel pouch that is supposed to slow tarnish.

I hope this helps you keep your jewelry looking lovely and lasting ages.

If you found this useful, you can explore similar topics:

Keep your jewelry safe this summer
Jewelry Leaving Your Skin Green or Black?
Traveling with Jewelry