How do I clean silver to a shine?

The popularity of silver items is due to their low cost, attractiveness, and unpretentious care. Their only drawback is considered to be a tendency to darken. In our article, we will tell you why silver tarnishes, in what ways you can return the previous shine and shine to silver jewelry at home, and also how to properly clean silver jewelry with stones from dark plaque.

Many aficionados of silver believe that items made of this noble metal begin to darken only with regular contact with the skin. However, this opinion is erroneous. Over time, even those products that are rarely used by humans in everyday life are covered with a dark bloom (otherwise it is called patina), for example, very expensive silver jewelry or silverware.

The main reason for the darkening of silver is its ability to chemically interact with particles of hydrogen sulfide contained in the air. The result of this interaction is the formation of a thin layer of silver salts (sulfides), due to which the surface of the product begins to lose its luster and tarnish.

In certain environments, silverware can darken much faster. This process is facilitated by factors such as:

• high air humidity in the room where the products are stored;
• increased content of sulfur (hydrogen sulfide) in the room air;
• regular contact of products with skin, chemicals or cosmetic products.

You can restore the original mirror shine of silver jewelry at home in several affordable and simple ways. Experienced housewives usually use proven improvised means for cleaning, without resorting to the help of aggressive household chemicals.

When choosing a means and a method for cleaning silver at home, one should take into account the characteristics of products made of noble metal. It should be borne in mind that products decorated with stones or enamel inserts require particularly careful handling., therefore, their method of cleaning from dark plaque should be as gentle as possible.

The simplest, safest, and most affordable tool you can use to clean your silver jewelry at home is regular baking soda. In its pure form, it is rarely used to clean the noble metal, so as not to scratch the surface of products with small crystals.

Experienced housewives usually use food foil as an aid. (even a small piece of foil from a chocolate bar will do). Having prepared all the necessary funds and contaminated silver, dilute 1-2 tablespoons of soda in 2 glasses of water. The resulting soda solution is sent to the fire, brought to a boil, after which the darkened products and a piece of foil are dipped into it. After 15 minutes, the products will regain their previous shine and shine, they can be removed from the solution and wiped dry.

To clear dark plaque and give silver a mirror-like shine, ordinary ammonia, which can be purchased at any pharmacy, will also allow. Take precautions when planning to use this inexpensive chemical. It is necessary to work with ammonia only with rubber gloves and a protective mask.

To prepare the cleaning solution, dilute 1 tablespoon of ammonia in half a glass of water. Contaminated silver is dipped into the resulting solution for 45-50 minutes. Products with very strong contamination are allowed to be kept in solution for an hour or more.

After that silver is removed from the solution and thoroughly wiped with clean napkins made of thick cloth or microfiber... It is not recommended to clean off the remaining dirt with a coarse brush, so as not to scratch the surface of the precious metal.

The most inexpensive toothpaste is another effective remedy for removing black plaque from silver. For the procedure you should use only regular toothpaste that does not have a whitening or filling effect.

A small amount of the paste is applied to a clean gauze or cotton cloth, after which they rub the surface of the contaminated product with a cloth. Under the influence of baking soda and other cleaning components that make up the toothpaste, black plaque and dirt will soften, after which their remains can be removed with a clean piece of cloth. At the end of the work, the products are rinsed in warm water and wiped dry.

Tooth powder is often used to clean blackened silver items. To clean the noble metal from the patina in this way, the powder should be mixed with a small amount of warm water, the resulting mixture should be applied to a cloth and rubbed onto the soiled items. After that, the purified silver must be rinsed in clean water and dried.

To make the old silver shine like new after cleaning at home, you can use the cheapest pharmacy antiseptic - hydrogen peroxide. Only 3% hydrogen peroxide is used to clean silver items.

Before the procedure, it is recommended to immerse dirty and blackened silver in warm soapy water (a mixture of water with shampoo or dishwashing liquid) for 20 minutes.This will soften dirt and grease on the surface of the precious metal.

After that 3-4 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide are dissolved in a liter of pure water, contaminated silver is immersed in the resulting solution for 1.5-2.5 hours. Then the products are removed from the solution, washed in running water and wiped dry with a cotton cloth.

Even very dense black deposits can be removed from the silver surface with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. To prepare a cleaning solution, dilute 2 tablespoons of each product in 1 liter of water.

Thorough cleaning of silver items with a relief surface requires a lot of work and time. Even after a long painstaking cleaning, they often leave traces of dark plaque that has accumulated in the bends of the relief.

Cleaning such products can be done in a simple and reliable way using a mixture of peroxide and baking soda. These funds must be mixed until a homogeneous paste-like mass is obtained.

The resulting mass should be applied to the fabric and carefully wipe the contaminated product with it, paying special attention to the relief areas. The mixture is not washed off from the product for 15-20 minutes. After that, the silver is washed in running water and wiped dry.

A wide range of methods and means are used to cleanse silver jewelry adorned with precious or semi-precious stones. When planning to use one or another cleaning technology, one should focus on the features of the stone with which the silver product is adorned.

So, silver inlaid with real coral can only be cleaned dry. It is impossible to use water and any liquids in this case. Dirt can be carefully wiped off with a cotton or microfiber cloth.

Silver pearl jewelry can be peeled with potato starch. It is mixed with water in equal proportions, after which the decoration is rubbed with the resulting mixture and left for 10-15 minutes. Then the product is thoroughly washed in running water and wiped dry.

Silver jewelry inlaid with stones of unknown origin, experts recommend cleaning with glycerin or olive oil. To do this, moisten a cotton swab in oil or glycerin and, gently pressing, wipe the dirty areas on the product with it.

Silver decorated with amber can be cleaned with soapy water. To prepare such a solution, you can use shampoo, dishwashing liquid, shavings of laundry or baby soap. Cleaning is carried out with a soft cloth soaked in soapy water.

Jewelers recommend using delicate tools for cleaning silver jewelry with stones - cotton swabs, children's toothbrushes. During work, do not rub the product with effort or put pressure on the paws or claws that hold the stone.

In most cases, you can clean a darkened silver piece with a stone using a cotton swab dipped in an aqueous solution of ammonia (0.5 glass of water and 1 tablespoon of ammonia). The product is cleaned very carefully, making sure that drops of solution do not fall on the surface of the stone.

Special means have also proven themselves well in terms of cleaning silver jewelry. Among them are such as "Flurin", "Aladdin", Silver Sparkle, Talisman, Silver Clean.

How to quickly clean silver from darkening, see below.