Add site to bookmarks

How can you clean a silver pectoral cross

Perhaps every person has jewelry made of silver. Most often, these are wearable jewelry in the form of a chain or a cross. it can also be church, given during the rite of baptism. Over time, you can notice that it either turned black, or darkened, or simply became dull. Of course, for a good appearance it needs to be cleaned. Moreover, it is very useful to clean jewelry not as it gets dirty, but once every 1-2 months.

There is a belief among the people that the darkness of the underbody church cross directly depends on the energy of a person. The more bad looks and bad thoughts a person receives from others, the more often he has to.

Causes of Silver Contamination

1. High indoor humidity.
2. Storage of the product near medicines, medical preparations or objects containing sulfur in their composition.
3. Sudden illness of the person who owns the cross.
4. Features of the skin type of the owner of the jewelry.
5. External impact on the product of cosmetics or perfumes.

Ways to care for a silver cross

• preventive cleanings should take place 1 time in 1-2 months;
• Once a week it is useful to wipe the silver cross with a suede or flannel dry cloth;
• quickly cleans silver with soapy water. It is enough to put it in a soapy solution for several hours, then take it out, rinse it, blot it with a dry cloth to remove excess moisture and polish it with soft suede;
• in the store you can buy a cleaning agent designed specifically for silver products. Using it is simple and safe for the product and the person: dip the cross into the cleaning solution, hold the time required according to the instructions, remove and wipe. Such a tool perfectly cleans the product and restores its shine and brightness.

Important points when cleaning a silver cross

1. Silver is cleaned only with soft tissues, it is forbidden to use rough and hard sponges, abrasive substances. This will eliminate the appearance of micro-scratches on the product and maintain brightness.
2. If you are sure that you cannot clean silver yourself, then give the product to a jewelry workshop. Professionals will qualitatively cope with their work, and you will be sure of achieving the cleaning effect.
3. If you decide to clean the silver cross yourself, then keeping it in a soapy solution is a must. After this solution, pollution and darkening go away on their own, and special efforts are not required to clean the cross.

The first aids in cleaning a silver cross

1. Baking soda. The solution is prepared as follows: 1 liter of water per 50 gr. soda. Carefully dissolve soda in water and soak the cross in the resulting mixture for 1 hour. There is another way to clean silver with soda: moisten the item, pour a thick layer of soda on it and rub it with a soft cloth until clean. Wipe the product carefully, because soda can cause small scratches on silver. Then rinse in running water and dry. Instead of soda, it is effective to use edible salt in the same proportions. Baking soda and salt clean silver perfectly and will come to the rescue when cleaning a silver cross in the first place.
2. Ammonia. Similarly, a solution of ammonia with soapy water is used in the ratio: 1 tbsp. a spoonful of ammonia for 1 liter of soap solution. Second way: mix equal amounts of crushed chalk and ammonia, smear the product with this composition, leave for a few minutes, then rinse and wipe off excess moisture.
3. Hydrogen peroxide. This method of cleaning silver is one of the most risky. This is due to the fact that rarely any owner knows the real composition of a silver product, and when silver comes into contact with the proportions of impurities of different metals with hydrogen peroxide, the product will begin to oxidize, and it will no longer be possible to give it its original appearance.
4. Citric acid - it will perfectly cope with plaque and return the original shine. To get the result, you need to mix 100 gr. citric acid and 500 ml. water. Put the solution in a water bath, as the solution heats up, put a silver cross into it and boil everything for 15 minutes. Then rinse the product in running water and dry with a soft cloth.
5. Vinegar is the first aid when cleaning silver. A 6% solution of vinegar effectively copes with darkening and raids. It is required to wipe the cross with a soft cloth dipped in vinegar, and then dry it with a dry cloth. After that, the decoration will shine like new.
6. Toothpaste. With the help of a toothbrush and toothpaste, you can clean the silver cross. But this cleaning method can cause scratches if you make too rough movements. We recommend this method of cleaning only as a last resort, so as not to spoil the jewelry.

Knowing how to properly clean a silver cross, you will always have an item that looks like new, even if it is already 10 years old.

Found in every home. Silver tends to darken and become coated. You can give it to a jewelry store, but you can quickly and inexpensively clean silver at home with improvised means.

Most often, the problem occurs with body silver crosses and chains, since the crosses have various engravings and protrusions, which makes it difficult to wipe and clean it properly.

Silver begins to darken due to contact with cosmetics and perfumes.

Any silver will darken over time. Only a special alloy does not darken, which looks like silver, but is much cheaper. Real silver can darken from improper care.

Before cleaning a silver cross, you should understand what caused the darkening and change in its appearance so that you do not have to resort to cleaning silver too often.

• superstition. Some believe that the silver cross darkens if a person is sick or because of the evil eye, exposure to negative energy. It is difficult to find confirmation of this, but in any case it is necessary, and regularly, and not as it gets dirty.
• high humidity. Often silver jewelry darkens if it is stored in high humidity conditions. So it is not recommended to store silver in the bathroom, as well as wash in it, go to the bathhouse, pool, etc.
• Due to contact with cosmetics and perfumes. Silver jewelry darkens faster when in contact with various body lotions, eau de parfum, creams and other cosmetics.
• Skin type feature. Owners of oily skin, which sweats often and profusely, becomes covered with sebum, more often face problems with the darkening of silver.
• Improper storage of silver. Silver can darken when stored with various medications, in boxes with rubber elements and other metal jewelry that can react with silver.

You can buy a special tool for cleaning silver in a jewelry store. It will safely and quickly clean jewelry, but it is not cheap.

Silver needs to be cleaned every 1-3 months, even if it seems to be clean and has not darkened.

In order to save money, you can safely and effectively if you follow the rules of cleaning.

The best ways to clean silver at home

You can clean silver at home

Cleaning silver is pretty easy. There are many ways to use home remedies. In every house you can find at least one of them:

1. Vinegar. Cleaning silver with vinegar is almost a tradition. A solution of 6% vinegar not only perfectly cleans jewelry, but also restores their shine. It is worth remembering that you do not need to dip the cross or chain in a solution of vinegar or keep it for a long time. It is enough to moisten a piece of cloth in the solution and wipe the jewelry, and then wipe them dry.
2. Baking soda. Soda can be found in every home. To prepare the solution, you need to carefully dissolve 1 teaspoon of soda in 50 ml of clean water. Silver jewelry is placed in this solution and left for an hour. After that, the jewelry is removed and wiped with a soft cloth. Sometimes it is recommended to clean silver with a gruel of soda and water, but this method is quite aggressive and can scratch the metal. You can also use plain table salt instead of baking soda. However, it is better to boil such a solution along with decorations for greater effectiveness.
3. Ammonia. Ammonia very effectively removes dirt even in those places of silver products where a cloth or brush cannot be reached. In clean water, you need to add a tablespoon of ammonia and a little soap suds. Stir all this and put silver there for a while. After such cleaning, silver things look like new.
4. . A good way to clean silver if nothing else is on hand. You need to take the paste and the old brush and rub the cross well. However, the chain will be difficult to clean in this way. A toothbrush can scratch jewelry, so you need to clean it carefully, without strong pressure, it is better to choose a brush with soft and thin bristles. This method is good because it does not require waiting and can effectively remove dirt even on a cross with a convex surface.

Silver cleaning: mistakes and rules

It is better to entrust the cleaning of silver with precious stones to specialists.

Cleaning silver requires some care. If you do not follow the rules of cleaning, you can ruin the appearance of jewelry forever:

• You can not clean silver along with gold. These are different metals with different reactions to substances. Gold does not darken, it can become slightly cloudy and lose its luster. Even if the cleaning products are the same, it is advisable to put silver and gold jewelry in different cups so as not to ruin them.
• You can't clean silver. Cleaning with hydrogen peroxide is considered the most risky. Pure silver will not be adversely affected by hydrogen peroxide, but it is never known exactly what impurities are in jewelry. Some of them can react with peroxide, and the appearance of the jewelry will deteriorate irrevocably.
• Care should be taken to avoid cleaning with abrasive substances. Abrasive cleaning refers to substances with large particles that can scratch the surface. Such means include soda, salt, brushing with a toothbrush. These products should be used only in extreme cases, and it is advisable not to resort to such cleaning frequently.
• Use only soft cloths for cleaning. You can wipe silver jewelry only with soft tissues and, preferably, dry. If you leave polished jewelry wet, they will quickly darken again.
• Do not clean if there are stones and impurities. If silver jewelry has impurities of other metals and precious stones, it is better not to take risks and take them to a jewelry salon. Professional cleaning is expensive, but still cheaper than buying new jewelry.

After cleaning, silver jewelry can be worn as usual, but protected from moisture and. If properly stored, silver should not darken for at least a few months.

How to clean silver at home, the thematic video will tell:

In contact with

The question of how to clean a silver cross is relevant for everyone who prefers such jewelry to gold. Silver tends to darken and become coated, so to restore the attractive appearance of a product made from this metal, you need to use effective proven methods.

1 Causes of darkening of silver

Before you begin the process of cleaning a silver cross, you need to determine the reasons for its darkening. This will eliminate adverse factors in the further wearing of the product and not resort to cleaning too often.

Darkened silver cross

Silver changes color for the following reasons:

1. Popular beliefs indicate that the cross worn on the body darkens from the "evil eye", that is, the negative energy that the ill-wisher directs towards the owner of the product. It is currently not possible to confirm this superstition or refute it.
2. High humidity negatively affects any silver product. In order to avoid frequent cleaning of jewelry, you need to store them in a dry place, remove them before water procedures.
3. The cross may darken from exposure to cosmetics and perfumes. When applying lotions, perfumes, creams to the skin, it is necessary to wait for some time, during which they are completely absorbed, then put on a silver product.
4. People whose skin is oily will be forced to clean the pectoral cross much more often than others. From excess sweat, increased work of the sebaceous glands, silver quickly darkens.
5. Violation of the rules for storing a precious metal cross leads to a change in its color. It is necessary to separate jewelry and medicines, as well as to allocate a separate place for products made of other metals. It is not recommended to purchase containers for silver (for example, caskets) that have rubber elements.

2 How to clean silver?

Silver items should be cleaned once every 1 - 3 months, even if they do not look dirty. To do this, they are given to a jewelry salon, they buy a special liquid or use folk remedies.

Silver cleaning

Vinegar for cleaning silver is a traditional remedy. A 6% solution allows not only to remove dirt, but also to add shine to products. To effectively clean the cross, you cannot completely place it in liquid, just soak a small piece of cloth in it and wipe it. Then wipe the decoration dry with a soft cloth (for example, flannel).

In order for the silver cross to shine again, you can place it for 1 hour in a solution of 1 tsp. soda and 50 ml of pure water. After that, the product is wiped dry. A more aggressive remedy is cleaning with a mixture of soda and water, which resembles gruel in consistency. The method is recommended to be used only in cases of severe contamination, because it is easy to scratch the metal.

Boiling a solution of water and common salt along with a silver cross removes all impurities from its surface and restores its shine.

If the jewelry has complex engraving or patterns, then in some places it is impossible to clean the blackness or other impurities. For such cases, there is a method using a solution of ammonia (1 tsp) and water (150 ml) with the addition of soap suds. The silver item is placed in a container with liquid for 30 minutes.

To clean the cross from plaque, a toothbrush with soft bristles and paste is suitable. Use this tool carefully so as not to scratch the surface of the jewelry. It is better to avoid strong pressure and intensive movements.

Silver cleans well with ordinary soapy water. The cross should be placed in it for several hours, and then wiped dry.

Removing black from a silver cross

A solution of citric acid is simply prepared: 100 g per 500 ml of water. The mixture is heated in a water bath, the decoration is lowered into it, boiled for 15 minutes. After the end of the procedure, the product must be washed under running water and wiped with a soft cloth.

3 Rules for cleaning silver

In order not to spoil the silver cross, but to effectively clean it, you must follow some rules:

1. Silver and gold should be cleaned separately.
2. Do not use hydrogen peroxide on silver items because it may react with an impurity metal that was not known to exist. As a result, the decoration will be damaged.
3. Abrasive cleaning with soda, salt, hard brushes is unacceptable. After such methods, noticeable scratches will appear on the surface of the product.
4. Use a soft cloth to wipe the cross. This will give it extra shine.
5. Wipe the product dry after wet cleaning.
6. Clean silver with impurities in a jewelry salon.
7. Before you start cleaning a silver cross, you should make sure that it is not made of blackened silver, to which most of the listed methods cannot be applied.
8. To store a silver cross and other items, it is best to choose a wooden box, upholstered inside with soft material, and put it in a dry place.

Silver tends to darken over time. This feature can be called a sign of the preciousness of the metal, because only a special, cheaper alloy is not subject to color change and plaque.

Silver is an attractive but rather vulnerable metal. Over time, jewelry made from this noble material acquires a dark coating and loses its original appearance.

Causes of darkening

The main reason for the blackening of the silver cross is the reaction of the metal with hydrogen sulfide contained in the air, as well as its interaction with nitrogen and sulfur emitted by the human body. Since a silver cross is often used as a body cross, the most common are biological reactions that occur on the surface of the product when it comes into contact with the body. The presence of sulfur and copper atoms in the silver molecule contributes to the oxidation of the metal, which occurs when it interacts with water vapor and oxygen atoms.

The rate of the oxidative reaction depends on external environmental factors, the composition of the sweat of the human body, the frequency of contact of the product with various cosmetics.

Regular visits to the pool with chlorinated water also contribute to the rapid darkening of the cross.

Cleaning methods

To clean a silver cross from blackness, you can use folk and professional methods. Professional cleaning involves the use of expensive ultrasonic equipment. It requires an appeal to the jewelry workshop. At home, you can use proven methods using the following tools:

Acetic essence

To clean the product, dilute vinegar to obtain a six percent solution, and, moistening a sponge in it, carefully wipe the cross.

Baking soda

To prepare the mixture, you need to mix water with soda in a ratio of 1: 50, then mix the resulting solution thoroughly. After that, place the cross in the resulting composition and leave for 1 hour, then remove the product, rinse under running water and wipe with a soft cloth. It is not recommended to use undiluted soda.: This can scratch the silver surface. You can wrap the cross in foil, dip in boiling water for 5 minutes, adding a teaspoon of soda.

Hydrogen peroxide and alcohol

To obtain the required solution, you need to mix both substances in equal parts. Next, place the cross in the prepared composition, leave for half an hour, after the time has elapsed, remove and wipe dry with a soft cloth. The use of peroxide is permissible only if there is full confidence in the composition of the product.

A cross that does not have a factory sample and is made with the addition of various impurities can be completely damaged: it will no longer be possible to return it to its original form.

Lemon acid

To prepare the product, you need to mix 0.5 liters of water with one teaspoon of citric acid. It is necessary to bring the resulting solution to a boil and place the product in it. After 25 minutes of boiling over moderate heat, the cross should be removed, washed in cool water and wiped thoroughly with a napkin.

Pepsi and Coca-Cola

To clean silver items from dark deposits, it is enough to place the item in a small container with a drink overnight. In the morning, rinse silver and wipe dry.

ammonium chloride

To properly dilute the solution, you need to take one tbsp. a spoonful of ammonia and mix it with one liter of soapy water. Soap must be used household (without fragrances and cosmetic additives). The product should be lowered into the resulting mixture and kept for 10-15 minutes. Then wipe the cross, moistening the napkin in the same composition, then rinse with cool water. You can mix crushed chalk with ammonia at a rate of 1: 1 and smear a silver cross with the resulting mixture. After 10 minutes, the solution must be removed and the silver washed thoroughly.

Toothpaste

To clean the cross from blackness, you need to put a little paste on the toothbrush and carefully process the metal. The brush should have soft bristles. This will avoid scratches and scuffs on the surface of the product.

Salt

To prepare a working solution, you need to dip 2 tablespoons of salt in a glass of water. The mixture must be brought to a boil and the product is placed in it. After five minutes, the cross can be removed and washed under warm running water.

When working with silver, do not use gold cleaners. These metals have completely different compositions and require different purification methods. It is not recommended to leave the silver item wet after processing. This will cause the surface to become cloudy immediately after drying.

Special care must be taken when wiping silver items dry. Even seemingly soft and delicate fabric can leave scuffs and stripes on the surface of the cross. This is especially true for polished glossy surfaces. For such purposes, you can use soft table napkins. You need to wipe only the front side: it is softer and will not scratch silver.

When encrusting a cross with precious stones, cleaning at home is not recommended. This can spoil the appearance of the stone. Store silver items separately from medicines and rubber items., due to the immediate reaction of silver to their constituents. Cleaning is recommended to be done at least once every 2-3 months, regardless of the degree of darkening.

If there is a relief image or engraving on the cross, do not wipe the product with flannel. This will cause the villi to get stuck in the pattern, further needing to be removed. Use soft paper towels. Their remnants are easily blown off or removed with a regular paint brush.

To clean the cross with precious stones, you can purchase special tools Leuchtturm or "Silver Quick" manufactured by the Johnson company. Such compositions are sold in jewelry stores, they allow you to professionally clean silver jewelry without leaving your home. To do this, you need to place the decoration in the prepared solution, and then take it out (the time is indicated on the packaging of the product). The disadvantage of this method is the high cost of the composition with a small volume of the bottle. Proper and regular care of a silver cross will give the product freshness, shine and aesthetics, and will allow it to retain its original appearance for a long time.

How to clean silver at home, see the following video.

Do not cost much, be upset about why the silver cross suddenly turned black. Even high-quality silver, sooner or later, regardless of its sample, will still turn black. Only absolutely pure silver does not blacken. But jewelry is made of pure silver only with very rare exceptions. The most popular for most jewelry, silver products, is a high-quality 925 test. Despite the high quality - 925 sterling silver, it can also quickly darken.

You should not be very afraid that silver has turned black, as it becomes even more attractive from this. However, some silver lovers do not like blackness on silver. There are so many ways to get rid of blackness on silver. You just need to find the most acceptable way for yourself.

There are many reasons why silver darkens. The main reason for the darkening of silver is the effect on the noble metal of hydrogen sulfide, which is contained in the form of vapors in atmospheric air. Interacting with hydrogen sulfide, silver forms dark plaque silver oxide. Also, various biological contaminants (microorganisms, skin flakes, dust) can affect the color of silver. Depending on the content of nitrogen or sulfur in a person's sweat, jewelry may turn black or, on the contrary, lighten.

Cleaning a silver cross is no different from cleaning other silver items. Therefore, after applying simple methods for cleaning silver, you can return to the jewelry its moon shine. You can clean silver both at a professional level and just at home. Professionally today, silver cleaning is carried out with ultrasound. This is a very high-quality silver cleaning, but since silver will need to be cleaned regularly once a month, it may not be affordable for everyone. Therefore, you need to learn how to clean silver at home. For this, there are alternative folk methods for cleaning metal.

To clean silver from plaque, baking soda can. Fifty grams of soda is poured into one gram of water, and then the solution is thoroughly mixed. Then a silver cross is soaked - in a soda solution for one hour. You can simply pour a layer of soda on a wet silver cross and gently rub the product with a flannel. But this method should be used very carefully, since microscopic soda particles can scratch the metal and the product will become less attractive. It is impossible, because for the same reason, to wipe products with hard sponges. website

A silver cross will shine again if it is moistened and rubbed with a sponge dipped in a six percent solution of vinegar.
You can perfectly clean a silver cross - with citric acid. One hundred grams of citric acid is diluted in 0.5 liter of water, the solution is brought to a boil, and then boiled in the resulting solution for fifteen minutes - a silver cross. Then the product is washed clean with running water and dried.