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How to clean silver at home from blackness. Cleaning silver items at home

Silver turns black over time, becomes covered with a thin opaque film and loses its luster. There are different ways to clean silver jewelry, one of them is using hydrogen peroxide. Peroxide is a strong oxidizing agent, can it be used to clean things, or is it better to choose another method?

Reasons for blackening of silver

Items made of pure silver are extremely rare. Often, jewelry is made from an alloy with copper. The most common test is 925, in which silver is 92.5%, and copper is 7.5%. Copper increases the strength of the alloy, but the finished product oxidizes and blackens over time. First of all, copper impurities in it are oxidized.

Copper reacts with sulfur and oxygen from the surrounding air. As a result, a dark coating appears on the surface of the product, which cannot be cleaned with hydrogen peroxide, and it is simply pointless to use water or soap solutions.

Silver itself also reacts with sulfur in the presence of oxygen and forms a black layer of sulfide, which can be cleaned with chemicals. Factors affecting the intensity and speed of blackening:

  • high humidity;
  • increased ambient temperature;
  • the presence of sulfur;
  • the presence of strong oxidants.

Human sweat contains sulfur, which is why silver items turn black especially quickly on some people. If the silver chain or rings have lightened on their own, then this may indicate the presence of a large amount of ammonia in the sweat.

To avoid cleaning your jewelry as often as possible, keep it in a dry, closed place and dip it in water as little as possible. Make sure that no perfume liquid, cosmetics, medicines get on the silver. If you dye your hair, remove rings, chains and other products, or cover them from getting dyed.

The more impurities in silver, the faster it will turn black. For this reason, cutlery with a low fineness should be cleaned more often than fine jewelry.

Peroxide action

It should be remembered that peroxide is a substance that donates its oxygen atom for the oxidation or reduction of a substance. And this is where the fun begins.

From some compounds, peroxide can reduce silver, purify it, and we get a clarified shiny product. If other metals are present in the alloy, then the reverse process can occur when silver is treated with hydrogen peroxide instead of clarification. Your jewelry will be stained or blackened. It will be very difficult to clear such a plaque; you will have to contact experienced jewelers.

There are tips to clean silver with peroxide with the addition of ammonia. Having prepared the solution, check its effect first on the inside of the ring or on the chain clasp. Moisten a cotton swab and lubricate the metal. You can clean the product only if the silver has brightened.

The correct conclusions must be drawn from all this. You can clean blackened silver with hydrogen peroxide, but with great care. If you do not want to spoil the product, then use other methods.

How silver is cleaned

Before cleaning your silver piece in any way, wash it in warm soapy water. This will remove visible dirt, grease and grime.

The best home remedy for silver cleaning is tooth powder mixed with a little water. It has light abrasive properties and removes all dirt from the surface of objects, as well as cleans the film that appears as a result of oxidation processes.

You can clean silver well at home using chalk and ammonia, which is an aqueous solution of ammonia. Make a gruel from chalk and ammonia, soak a cotton swab in it and wipe the product.

You can leave the solution on the metal surface for a few minutes, and when it dries, clean it with a brush.

Silver items with an uneven surface, various decorations, engraving, curls can be dipped into a glass with ammonia and left for several hours. Then take out, rinse and wipe dry.

You can use baking soda to clean your silver chain or ring. It is necessary to pour soda into the water (2 teaspoons per glass) and boil the items for several minutes. If you boil silver in an aluminum container, it will be even better to clean it through chemical reactions.

Jewelry with stones

Products with stones require more careful handling at home. They cannot be cleaned with acids or other aggressive substances. Some stones, such as turquoise, are sensitive even to moisture, so they should not be immersed in water.

The stones can be cleaned with special products purchased from a jewelry store. Napkins are sold to remove grease and other contaminants from silver and stones.

Jewelry with pearls is dipped in soapy water and washed with a soft cloth, then washed in clean water. It is strictly forbidden to apply ammonia or hydrogen peroxide to pearls.

Topaz and amethyst are resistant to weak acids and alkalis, so they can be cleaned of contamination with any detergent, but high temperature water must not be applied to them, as the stones tarnish when heated.

Quartz and cubic zirconia can also be washed by adding a little liquid soap to the water. These stones are not picky, they are resistant to external factors. Hard-to-reach places can be cleaned with a toothpick, wrapping a little cotton wool around it.

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It is not easy to clean silver at home from blackness. And almost everyone has products made of this metal, be it jewelry or silverware. But these items will sooner or later require cleaning, because this metal darkens over time.

With foil

It turns out that foil is perfect not only for baking dishes and other culinary needs. Silverware can be easily cleaned with ordinary food foil. The essence of the method is that salt and foil enter into a chemical reaction with this metal, and the plaque is removed. For work you will need foil, water, soda, salt.

We put the silver product in a ceramic cup or bowl, there is also one teaspoon of salt, and then pieces of crumpled foil the size of a palm. Fill everything with water, mix with a spoon. After 15 minutes, the metal will completely get rid of dark deposits and will look like brand new.

If the dark bloom on silver is persistent, you should wrap it in foil, after adding a teaspoon of soda plus a teaspoon of water to the bundle.

After half an hour, you need to unfold the foil, remove the jewel and rinse it with baking soda under running water.

Ammonia

It can be quite difficult to clean silver from blackness, since a high concentration of this substance can damage precious stones in a product, especially when it comes to pearls. The maximum concentration of ammonia is 5 drops per glass of water. In no case you cannot use ammonia when cleaning gilded items, it will simply remove the gilding.

To clean silver, you need to take a container that is suitable in size, in which the following solution is prepared: 1 part ammonia per 10 parts water. The product should be put into the solution, leaving it for 15-35 minutes, the time depends on how dirty it is.

If you need to clean the silverware, the cleaning solution is prepared as follows: 2 parts of ammonia are mixed with 5 parts of water and 1 part of regular tooth powder is added. Moisten a cloth with a solution and wipe the surface, and then rinse them thoroughly and wipe dry with a towel.

Hydrogen peroxide is dangerous for silver

Hydrogen peroxide has a great effect on this soft metal, removing plaque and restoring shine, but this is valid if the silver product does not contain alloys of other metals that can oxidize on contact with hydrogen peroxide.

If you are going to clean silver with hydrogen peroxide, you should first test for impurities.

There is a dubious recipe for cleaning silver with hydrogen peroxide combined with ammonia. However, it is impossible to predict in advance how such an experiment will end, so it is better not to risk it.

Toothpaste cleans more than just your teeth

If the product is not too dirty, you can clean it with the most common white toothpaste. Apply toothpaste to it, wait a little for the paste to react with the metal, then start cleaning.

You can use a soft tissue or toothbrush if the jewelry has a lot of small parts. After cleaning, rinse thoroughly with water so that no white residue remains, then pat dry with a towel.

Soda

Soda is a versatile cleaning agent that is suitable for cleaning not only kitchen and earthenware surfaces, but also silver. The soda cleaning method is one of the oldest and most reliable.

It is necessary to prepare a mushy mixture of soda and water, which perfectly dissolves dirt and dark bloom from silver, then apply to the product, wait a little and rinse. If you need to clean silver from blackness, then put it in a basin, pour soda into it and add water. After 30-50 minutes, rejoice at the result.

Table vinegar

For purifying silver, the most common 9% table vinegar is perfect.

Heat the vinegar until warm, then place your product in it. After 15-25 minutes, take it out and rub it with a soft woolen or suede cloth.

Soft toothbrush

A regular soft cloth will not work for cleaning the silver chain because it cannot reach the inner surface of the chain links. Therefore, you need to use an ordinary toothbrush, always soft, silver is a delicate metal, on which scratches are very easy due to rough mechanical stress.

Clean the chain as you would your daily dental hygiene, and after brushing, rinse the chain with running water to avoid white deposits on the chain. Instead of a paste, you can use crushed chalk or tooth powder.

You can use ammonia solution. Add 5-6 drops of ammonia to a glass of warm soapy water, then put the chain there for 15 minutes, and after removing the chain, rinse it.

Give your silver ring its original freshness

A dirty ring can be washed with hot soapy water or a solution with dishwashing liquid. Soak the ring in the solution for a while, then brush it off with a soft toothbrush and polish with a suede cloth.

Ordinary potatoes can help peel the silver ring. Dip it in potato broth and rinse with running water. You can dip the ring in a mixture of grated potatoes and water, and then polish. All these methods are suitable for cleaning rings, chains and other jewelry: cleaning with vinegar, soda, toothpaste, ammonia, foil.

Gentle cleaning of silver with precious stones

Silver items with precious stones require careful handling. There are several ways to clean them:

  • cleaning with special products that can be bought at a jewelry store;
  • cleaning with liquid soap or solution with dishwashing liquid. Immerse the products in the solution for a few minutes, then brush very gently with a toothbrush, rinse and polish with a soft cloth;
  • add a few drops of ammonia and one spoon of baking soda to warm water. Leave for 15-30 minutes, brush with a soft brush, rinse and wipe;
  • you can clean the silver item with a cotton swab dipped in ordinary table vinegar, then polish it.

Boiling silver in citric acid solution

Pour water into a liter jar and pour 100 g of citric acid into it, place the jar in a water bath. After half an hour of boiling, we take out the product and rinse it.

The presented methods of cleaning this fine metal from plaque are available for everyone to use. Even if you do not have a special tool for cleaning jewelry, it is always possible to achieve high-quality cleaning of silver with home remedies. After all, in the kitchen there is always foil, vinegar, soda, citric acid and soap.

How to clean silver from blackness at home

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Even silver of the highest standard will tarnish, patina or even blacken over time. This is due to the oxidation of the metal, which often comes into contact with aggressive media or ordinary air. Timely care and removal of dirt helps to restore the original appearance of the product.

Cleaning silver with hydrogen peroxide is one way to eliminate this problem. We will tell you more about it below.

Why does silver turn black

Only 999 silver is practically not oxidized, but it is not used in the jewelry industry, since it has high softness and crumbles quickly. For this reason, the metal is diluted with a small amount of copper - it gives the alloy ductility and hardness. Basically, the 925th test is put on products sold in stores. This mark means that the decoration contains for each gram:

  • 92.5 percent - silver;
  • 7.5 - copper.

It is the latter that contributes to the increased oxidation of jewelry. Moreover, both metals readily react to sulfur. This chemical element is found in both air and sweat. With the assistance of oxygen, sulfides are formed - it is they who create an unattractive matte film on the surface of rings or chains.

If the product contains a lot of copper, then hydrogen peroxide will not be able to restore its original shine. Moreover, soap solution will not cope with this task either. It is best to use abrasive compounds here. Alternatively, a regular stationery eraser will do. It is worth rubbing an object with its light side - it is softer.

But silver itself reacts excellently to chemical methods of sanitation. Their use eliminates the need for mechanical action on the metal, and, therefore, the surface remains intact for as long as possible.

The main reasons contributing to the active blackening of silver are as follows:

  • high humidity;
  • wearing jewelry in the heat;
  • contact with sulfur-containing drugs;
  • exposure to household chemicals and cosmetics.
  • store in dry rooms;
  • take off before bathing or cleaning;
  • leave at home, leaving for the country or going to the gym.

Contact with hair dye also very quickly contributes to the blackening of jewelry.

Peroxide cleaning

Above all, never forget that peroxide is corrosive enough. Even the usual 3% solution sold in pharmacies has a very active effect on silver jewelry. On contact with a metal, it gives up the existing oxygen atom, which dissolves the sulfide, which, as a result, leads to the return of the lost luster.


At the same time, peroxide often makes items made of low-grade silver even darker. At the same time, the black patina can be removed in the future only by resorting to the services of a qualified jeweler. What to do when the quality of the metal used in the manufacture of jewelry is unknown? Initially, try applying a small amount of the product to an inconspicuous area with a cotton swab and see what happens.

If everything is in order, then the object is immersed completely in peroxide and left so for 10-15 minutes. Then washed with water and wiped dry with a napkin. In hard-to-reach places, dirt is removed with a wooden toothpick and a cotton swab.

Ammonia mixed with peroxide should also be used as carefully as possible - for alloys with a low precious metal content, such a bath can be very harmful.

Cleaning of silverware

At home, before starting to restore the original shine of a ring or chain, they must be thoroughly washed. To do this, take warm water and soap. This bath helps dissolve:

  • dirt;
  • some chemical compounds.

As practice shows, good old tooth powder slightly moistened with water is ideal for low-sample products. The finished gruel is applied to the decoration and, after drying, is cleaned with a fleecy cloth. The remains are washed off under the tap. This option does an excellent job not only with dirt, but also with an oxide film.

A good recipe that allows you to return the original shine to silver products is chalk diluted with ammonia. The trick is that this substance is a derivative of nitrogen, which, in turn, actively reacts with silver and quickly brightens it.

The procedure is as follows:

  • ammonia and chalk are ground to a homogeneous gruel;
  • a cotton pad is moistened in it;
  • they process the surface of the decoration;
  • shine with a fleecy cloth.

Most people prefer to clean their silver with ammonia. This method is effective and simple, which allows it to be done at home. Due to its chemical properties, ammonia perfectly removes the oxidizing film from the metal, ensuring the safety of the silver product.

Silver is a precious metal, due to the beautiful luster of which unique jewelry appears: unique earrings, beautiful chains and attractive rings.

Silver has a kind of mysticism and mystery. When this metal begins to darken, an even more attractive texture appears, which adds the effect of "antiquity" to the products.

But it often happens that silver darkens more than we want. Is it possible to restore the original appearance of a metal?

Often times, people wonder why silver is starting to darken. There are many versions, among which there is even an opinion that the darkening of the jewelry symbolizes the presence of damage on its owner. Scientists have proven the reasons why the metal can change its color.

There are several factors that can help answer why silver can darken.

An ammonia solution is able to effectively clean your silver jewelry from blackness. Such a tool has excellent quality - it reacts with any oxidizing agents of a chemical nature, transforming it into ammonium salts.

This ability makes ammonia an excellent solvent. It should be noted that ammonia does not affect the metal itself, so there is no risk in its use.

It is important to know that it is strictly forbidden to clean silver and gold together, because these metals will react with each other and you will get yellow silver jewelry or white gold.

If you need to clean silver jewelry that contains precious stones, do not forget to lower the amount of ammonia when making the proportion of the solution.

You do not have to waste your precious time and give all your jewelry to specialists who will do their own cleaning.

In specialized companies, cleaning is carried out using a professional solution that is able to remove the dirt layer from the metal surface, while restoring its original shine.

This procedure is quite costly, so cleaning your silver at home on your own will be the best option. You can choose the most convenient cleaning option for you and restore its former beauty to your jewelry.

If you decide to clean the silver with ammonia at home, then prepare a solution in advance that contains 10 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of ammonia.

After the liquid is ready, you can dip your jewelry into the container and leave it for 30 minutes (the soak time may vary due to indicators such as the degree of blackness on the product, but should not exceed 60 minutes).

After the time has elapsed, you need to get the silver by wearing gloves. Wipe your jewelry with dry wipes.

If the plaque is small, then you can clean your products at home using a woolen or flannel cloth soaked in ammonia.

After such a procedure, be sure to wipe the darkened surface well.

If your products are very heavily soiled, you can clean them with pure ammonia. For such a procedure, you will need to put the jewelry in the solution for 15 minutes, then remove them, rinse under running water and dry thoroughly.

Be aware of safety precautions and handle ammonia carefully to avoid poisoning.

Alternative options for silver purification with ammonia

If you want to return the former beauty to your silver jewelry or the previous options did not suit you, then there is an alternative in the form of a combination of ammonia and tooth powder at home. In order to clean silver in this way, you need:

Also, ammonia can be mixed with hydrogen peroxide and baby liquid soap. All ingredients are mixed in equal parts, after which water is added to them.

Silver items should lie in this solution until all the dirt has come off them. After such a procedure, you need to dry and polish the silver with a woolen cloth.

If your silver has enamel or stones, then there is a way that will require ammonia and tooth powder.

The components are also mixed in equal proportions and the surface of the darkened areas is wiped with suede or wool. Don't forget to polish and dry your silver.

What precautions should you take when cleaning silver with ammonia?

  • If you work with ammonia, then you need to take into account its aggressiveness and poisonous smell. Always use gloves when cleaning silver, as ammonia can corrode your hands.
  • If the solution gets on the skin or mucous surface, it is necessary to promptly rinse the skin area with a large volume of water and immediately go to the doctor.
  • For convenience and safety, you can additionally use tweezers to dip and remove silver objects.
  • Corrosive vapors can cause poisoning, so do not bow your head over an open container with ammonia and breathe its vapors.
  • Clean products in a ventilated area.

Using these methods, you can clean your silver jewelry at home. Consider the type of products in this procedure.

For example, due to the large number of links, it is best to soak the chain when cleaning, and you can clean the ring with a cloth or toothbrush. Give your silver jewelry a second life, and you will catch the eyes of others with the beauty of your accessories.

Mother of two children. I have been running a household for over 7 years - this is my main job. I love to experiment, I constantly try various means, methods, techniques that can make our life easier, more modern, richer. I love my family.