Cleaning Silver Jewellery

Cleaning your silver jewellery

Cleaning Silver Jewellery: Sterling silver DOES get tarnished overtime and sometimes gemstones do need cleaning, which is completely normal. Here you will find some information on how best to clean it yourself. Below are some simply ways to clean your jewelry.

Most of what we write here is “common sense.” However, coming from the scuba diving industry and teaching people to scuba dive. Both “Indepth Dive Centre” and “Indepth Dive Jewelry” learnt a long time ago that there is “no such thing as common sense.” And that “common sense is not common”. So, bear with us if some of what we say here seems a bit obvious.

Preventative Care

Wear your Jewellery

Wearing your sterling silver jewellery regularly is one of the easiest ways to keep it nice and shiny, and slow down tarnishing. The constant movement of the silver and the friction against clothes and your skin helps to keep it clean. However even vintage jewelry is prone to wear and tear. As such, remember to “give it a break” once in a while and wear something else.

Polishing Cloths

Polishing cloths are “cloths” which have been designed to remove the tarnish from your sterling silver jewellery. They are usually made from 100% cotton with an anti-tarnish agent on one side and a silver polish on the other. Thus, with regular use, they remove tarnish, polish and prevent future tarnishing.

When you take your jewelry off at the end of the day, try and spend a minute “polishing” it with a polishing cloth. This helps keep any lingering moisture, oils or dust away and keep it tarnish free and shiny.

Incidentally when you use a polishing cloth, you may well be surprised by how ‘black” it gets. Do not worry this is what is meant to happen. Consequently, do NOT wash it because it is “dirty”, as this can remove the chemicals from the Polishing Cloth.

Soap and Warm Water

This is probably the easiest and safest way to clean your sterling silver jewellery and gemstones. The soap will not hurt your silver or your gems. This will not remove any tarnish that has built up, but it does keep your jewellery clean in much the same way it keeps your hands clean. Before you start please do check that none of the gemstones are loose.

All you need to do is get a small bowl of warm water with a few drops of a mild, ammonia and phosphate-free washing up liquid. Then just let your jewelry soak for 10-15 minutes to soften any residue and dirt. Next, take a very soft toothbrush (soft or extra-soft) and carefully and gently scrub the sides, top, bottom and underside. If you are careful, you can also use a toothpick or a shaved matchstick for picking out any accumulations. Once you are happy with that, then dip the jewellery back into the solution one last time. Then rinse in warm running water, dry it with a lint-free cloth. This removes any water or moisture. Finally, polish it with your polishing cloth and do a final check for any loose gemstones.

Please Note: soap and water should also be used to clean your jewellery before using any of the methods listed below.

1. Cleaning silver jewellery with baking soda and water

There was a time, decades ago, that people suggested using a non-whitening, non-gel toothpaste to clean your sterling silver. However, nowadays these types of toothpaste are hard to find or distinguish from toothpastes that will discolor your silver.

A more modern way is to make a paste of baking soda and water. Once you have made your paste, apply a pea-sized amount to your jewelry and polish it. If you have etched, stamped or detailed jewelry pieces then thin the paste with more water. Then use a clean, soft-bristled toothbrush to get in the cracks and crevices. Finally rinse the jewelry under running warm water, and dry with a clean cloth.

2. Olive oil and lemon juice

With this method you will need ½ a cup of lemon juice and one tablespoon of olive oil. All you do is mix these in a bowl large enough to put the cleaning solution and a small microfiber cloth in. Then dip the cloth in the solution, wring it out so that it is not dripping, and use that to polish your silver. When you have finished then rinse with running water and dry.

3. White vinegar and baking soda

This is a popular homemade cleaning solution suitable for removing heavily tarnished jewellery. Although if you are following our advice for prevention and care this should never happen. What you need to do is mix up ½ a cup of white vinegar and 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Once you have that then soak the tarnished silver piece in it for two to three hours. After that then rinse under running water and dry.

4. Baking soda, salt, aluminum foil, and boiling water

This is another old method which uses a simple chemical reaction to clean your sterling silver. You will need baking soda, salt, and some aluminum foil. Carefully line a piece of aluminum foil, dull side facing down shiny side facing up, on the bottom of a glass roasting pan or similar. Then place your silver jewelry on top of the aluminum foil and pour boiling water over it. You want the jewelry to be completely covered. Once it is then and add two tablespoons of baking soda and two tablespoons of salt. Now stir the solution until the baking soda and salt has completely dissolved.

Now wait 5-10 minutes for the chemical reaction to start. What you will see is the tarnish transfer from the jewelry to the aluminum foil. It looks like a Magicians Trick from TV, however, be prepared for the smell of rotten eggs as the sulfide tarnish comes off the silver! Once this has finished use salad tongs, or similar, to remove the silver jewelry from the hot water. You could also use a colander for example, but do not use rubber gloves as they contain sulphur. Then rinse the jewelry with running water and dry with a soft cloth. And then finish it off with a polishing cloth. The final cleaning method we will discuss is using an ultrasonic cleaner to clean your sterling silver jewelry.

5. Cleaning silver jewellery with ultrasonic cleaners

An ultrasonic cleaner is a device that uses ultrasound to remove contaminants from objects by a process called ultrasonic cavitation. This is excellent for cleaning contaminants such as dust, dirt, oil, pigments, rust, grease, algae, fungus, bacteria and lime scale. Not surprisingly they are used in many industries around the world. Including the jewelry, automotive, medical, pharmaceutical, aerospace, computer and engineering industries.

An ultrasound cleaner consists of a bath with a liquid in which items are placed to be cleaned. The liquid can be water or a solvent depending on the type of contamination and the item being cleaned. When switched on, an ultrasound cleaner produces high frequency sound waves, (usually 20 – 400 kHz) which “agitate” the liquid. In turn this “agitation” creates a scrubbing action within the liquid, called ultrasonic cavitation. Ultrasonic cavitation creates millions of minute bubbles that implode against the object. This then causes contaminants that have accumulated on the surfaces of metals, plastics, glass, rubber and ceramics to come off.

However, when it comes to using an ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning sterling silver jewellery you need to be very careful! As ultrasonic cleaning is NOT safe for all gems and jewellery.

Here is some information from the Gemological Institute of America's (GIA) on gems and ultrasonic cleaners.

Here are the Gemological Institute of America's (GIA) "do's and don'ts" for ultrasonic cleaners:

DO NOT ...

Do not use an ultrasonic to clean gemstones that have surface reaching breaks that have been filled. Diamonds, for example, can be fracture when filled with lead glass-like substances. Emeralds’ fractures are commonly filled with oil, resin or wax. The aim of these treatments is to improve apparent gem clarity. However, these types of treatment are not permanent and can be damaged or removed. Other gemstones may be similarly treated.

Do not use an ultrasonic to clean organic gem materials. These are porous materials and should never be cleaned using an ultrasonic machine. This is because gems can be damaged by the heat of an ultrasonic cleaner and the chemicals in cleaning solutions. Pearls, coral, tortoise shell, ivory, shell cameos, jet, and amber should not be put in an ultrasonic cleaner.

Do not use an ultrasonic machine if the gems have been impregnated or coated with oil, plastic or wax. These treatments are often used on gems such as emerald, lapis lazuli, malachite, and opal.

Avoid ultrasonic cleaners if the gem has been treated by heat, a method used to enhance color. While transparent ruby and sapphire require caution, star ruby and star sapphire should not be cleaned in an ultrasonic machine.

There are many gems that are susceptible to heat and temperature changes and should not be cleaned in an ultrasonic regardless of whether they are treated or untreated. Some of these gems include tanzanite , feldspar (sunstone and moonstone), fluorite, iolite, kunzite, lapis lazuli, malachite, opal, topaz, turquoise, zircon, and others.

DO ...

Use gentle cleaning solutions, such as Touch of Purple, that are specially formulated for cleaning delicate gems and metals that are oxidized or antique. Standard cleaning solutions can damage delicate gem materials and surface finishes.

Check to make sure the gemstones in your piece are securely set in their mountings both before and after cleaning. The vibration generated by an ultrasonic cleaner can sometimes shake gems loose or cause damage if gems are set with their girdles touching.

With all these warnings, you may wonder why you would even use an ultrasonic cleaner in the first place. Ultrasonics can effectively clean those hard to reach places, but just use caution as the GIA does recommend, “If you're uncertain about the durability of your gem, avoid using ultrasonic cleaners to be safe.”