Jewelry and silverware have a unique charm and sophistication. But over time, the "lunar" metal gradually loses its former luster, beauty and radiance, becomes cloudy and acquires a dark shade. This happens for various reasons:
- Permanent contact of jewelry with cosmetics and water. For those who are not used to removing accessories before taking a shower or bath.
- Oxidation in the air. The hydrogen sulfide contained in the atmosphere adversely affects silver, causing it to darken. This happens with any silver items, even if you rarely use them.
- Improper storage of silver items and accessories. If all jewelry carelessly lie in one common box, they are scratched against each other, oxidized and lose their attractive appearance.
- Excessive moisture. When constantly in a humid environment, silver jewelry turns green or becomes bluish.
To return to their former attractiveness allows cleaning jewelry. The easiest way is to bring them in to a silver workshop or buy a cleaning agent for silver jewelry yourself. An alternative and less expensive option is cleaning silver jewelry at home.
Cleaning tips
The choice of method (means) for restoring the attractiveness of silver jewelry depends on the qualitative composition of the metal. Matte products require a particularly careful approach, since they are created using special spraying. Such accessories cannot be cleaned with abrasive products - solid particles will wipe off the matte finish and permanently spoil the appearance of the jewelry.
No less care and careful handling when cleaning from taint and impurity require products made using filigree, blackening.
No matter how high-quality and expensive silver may be, it cannot be cleaned using caustic compounds, abrasive powders, hard washcloths. All these devices scratch the surface, the resulting damage is corrected only by professional polishing.
For the procedure for restoring the beauty of jewelry to be correct and careful, you must adhere to the general recommendations:
- To effectively remove dirt and oxide deposits, the product should be soaked for a while in the cleaning composition.
- After the procedure, the jewelry is washed well with warm water.
- At the final stage, the products are wiped dry, then polished with a piece of soft cloth. To maintain the attractive appearance of silver necklaces, chains and pendants will help special napkins that perfectly cope with shallow and regular cleaning.
Cleaning methods
The owners of an impressive collection of silver jewelry there is a specialized cleaning fluid, which is sold in jewelry stores. Using it is very simple: you need to pour the solution into a glass container, put earrings or rings there. A few hours later, the items are removed, rinsed with water and wiped dry.
You can return the attractiveness to silver bracelets, rings, chains without the use of professional solutions and devices. Cleaning silver jewelry with improvised means is often as effective:
- Small impurities are well removed with liquid soap or dish detergent. Put a couple of drops of the gel in warm water, immerse the jewelry. After some time, rinse with water and dry. Dirt from hard-to-reach places is removed with a soft toothbrush or brush. To give the accessories a shine, they are additionally polished with a soft cloth using special tools.
- Soap solution is used for gentle cleaning of silver jewelry with stones.
- Darkened jewelry restores its silver luster in an aqueous solution of ammonia, lemon juice or vinegar. Take a tablespoon of any of the named substances, mix with a glass of water, heat, put jewelry there. When the metal turns light and cleans, the products are removed, rinsed and polished. The method is only suitable for cleaning products without precious stones and blackening.
- Removing impurities can be made with potato starch mixed with water or grated potatoes. The decoration is kept in the resulting mixture for three hours, then gently scrubbed with a toothbrush and washed.
- For more gentle method of product recovery there is a use of soda pulp. Baking soda is mixed with a few drops of water, the decoration is rubbed with the mixture. After a while, the remaining soda is removed with a dry brush or a napkin. A piece of woolen fabric will help to restore the sparkle to the decoration.
Additional cleaning methods
In addition to soda, ordinary salt effectively copes with dirt on jewelry. But just do not use it, because even its smallest particles can permanently scratch the surface, ruining the decoration. For cleaning, do the following:
- Place aluminum foil at the bottom of a small heat-resistant container.
- Put silver items on it, sprinkle them with salt. For heavy dirt, put a spoonful of soda.
- Add a teaspoon of dishwashing detergent to the composition. For a small amount of jewelry, a few drops of cleaning fluid will suffice.
- Pour boiling water over the container so that it covers all jewelry.
- Leave them for 10 minutes, then remove, rinse, dry and polish.
If the impurities are strong, a mixture of toothpaste with baking soda (½ teaspoon of each component) is used, in which a couple of drops of ammonia are added. Mix the composition, apply to a soft toothbrush, process the product without strong pressure. After cleaning, rinse the paste thoroughly, sand the surface of the decoration. This composition is effective, but its too frequent use leads to the appearance of microcracks on the metal surface.
Simple and affordable cleaning methods will restore radiance and beauty to your silver jewelry. But no matter how you would like to wear sparkling accessories, you should wait a few days after cleaning before you go out with them again. During this time, a protective film forms on the metal and the product stays clean longer.
And finally, the main rule: cleaning and maintenance of jewelry should be regular, and then the radiant shine of the "moon" metal will always please you!
