How to clean silver at home. Cleaning silver jewelry at home: features, effective methods and methods

28.08.2020

Knowing how to clean blackened silver from plaque and stains, you restore the product without scratching or damaging its surface. Use baking soda, salt, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide. Prepare special cleansing pastes or solutions following a specific pattern. Finally, be sure to rinse under running water and polish to a shine

Silver is one of the noble metals with disinfecting properties, so wearing silver items and using cutlery has a good effect on a person's well-being (provided that they do not have a black coating). Knowing how to clean silver at home will restore the attractiveness of your favorite jewelry, spoons and improve their healing properties with a minimum of effort.

Reasons for darkening silver

Before you clean your silver, it's important to understand why it tends to darken.

"Magical" reasons for darkening silver

Previously, it was thought that the reason for this was magical rituals, but scientists have proven that silver and cupronickel (a metal similar to silver) react to various elements (oxidizes).

The blackness on the surface of silver-plated jewelry appears due to:

contact with wet skin;
being in conditions of excessive humidity;
improper storage;
interactions with household chemicals, cosmetics and some products;
reactions to sweating. If there is nitrogen in the sweat, then the silver will remain the same, and the sulfur impurities lead to rapid blackening. Sulfuric substance appears in the body as a result of the progression of pathology or the use of medications.

If the product is of low grade, then it will oxidize, regardless of whether the sweat contains impurities or not.

It is better to avoid wearing such jewelry, because they do not have even a minimal beneficial effect on the body and are not restored.

Choosing a cleaning method

The principle of cleaning silver bracelets, crosses, rings and cutlery from black plaque depends on several factors:

product samples;
are there alloys in the composition;
the size of the decoration;
the presence of decorative elements such as expensive stones, gilding;
intensity of blackening.

Simple products that do not contain impurities, stones, gilding do not need special care, so the use of aggressive products is permissible. As for expensive items with decorations, it is better to clean with professional cleaners (pastes / aerosols) or contact a jewelry salon.

Fundamental rules

You need to clean silver at home, adhering to certain rules:

Clean jewelry regularly, even if there is little plaque. Otherwise, the dirt will eat into the ornament, and it will be more difficult to clean it. This is especially true for white earrings or light gray chains.
Do not use harsh abrasives such as a metal scraper. For simple decorations, use a toothbrush with soft bristles, for expensive ones that contain stones - a brush with natural fibers.
Treat high-quality products with professional cleaners.
Silver-plated accessories cannot be damaged by chemicals, but they can easily be scratched with hard materials. If you do not have the necessary brush on hand, use a soft cloth to clean the silver.
Be sure to rinse the rings with purified water if metal dishes / foil have been used during processing. Otherwise, the surface will oxidize and form an unattractive sodium sulfate hymen.
Sprinkle boiling water or lemon juice on the jewelry to give it a shine, like in a shop window.
After processing, dry the silver-plated jewelry with a hairdryer, polish with a suede cloth.
Do not use cutlery and do not wear rings or chains for several days after processing.

To wash jewelry with decorative stones at home, use folk cleaning methods and these rules.

We clean silver with folk remedies

Folk remedies - substances regularly used in everyday life:

lemon acid;
vinegar;
colgate toothpaste;
ammonia;
vodka;
or food.
hydrogen peroxide;
glycerol;
salt;
coca Cola.

These products are gentle, therefore they are recommended by leading jewelers for cleaning from dirt of initial to medium difficulty. Before wiping off the blackness, remove the remains of cosmetics, dust and grease. Prepare a solution by mixing dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, or soap with water. Scrub the inside / outside thoroughly with a toothbrush. Rinse and dry with a soft paper towel.

We wash off the darkening with tooth powder / paste

A toothpaste or whitening powder for teeth washes away blackness on silver-plated accessories, but belongs to rough methods that are not recommended for cleaning expensive jewelry with inclusions of gold and precious stones (topaz, amber).

This method works well for cleaning coins. Dilute the powder with water to obtain a paste, or apply the prepared product to a soft fabric. Rub the product in a straight line. Do not press or damage the ornament.

Note ! After treatment with any cleansing agent, rinse the jewelry and dry to avoid oxidation.

Did you know that toothpaste is used for and.

Soda

An easily available and highly effective cleaning agent for contaminated silver is soda. For regular utensils, make a gruel by mixing baking soda and water. Lubricate the dirty area with the mixture and after 10-15 minutes rub with a soft cloth, wash.

If the jewelry contains impurities of precious metals or stones, use a different recipe:

Boil 1 tbsp. water.
Dissolve 20 g of baking soda in it.
Place food foil on the bottom of the pot.
Place the decoration for 15 minutes.
Wipe with a cloth.

Note ! We put the processed silver in hot, not boiling water!

How to easily remove blackness from a silver chain and restore shine, watch the video:

Citric acid

With the help of acids, silver is washed from dirt, rust, yellowness, brown deposits.

At the end of processing, the silver ring will shine:

Combine the ingredients in the indicated proportions: 2 tbsp. water and 100 g of citric acid.
Place the solution in a water bath and place a piece of wire (copper) inside.
Darken the decoration for about 15 minutes.

A small and unpretentious product can be easily cleaned with a vinegar solution. Apply a small amount of product to the rag and wipe clean. Also use pharmacy sulfuric or formic acid. Add some product to boiling water, place the product there and boil for 1-2 minutes.

Note ! Do not use pots with even minimal deposits. They will further aggravate the condition of silver..

Ammonia

To clean silver with ammonia at home to a shine, just soak a cloth in a pharmacy solution and wipe the product.

If that's not enough, pour ammonia over the jewelry and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Clean heavily soiled products with ammonia mixed with hydrogen peroxide:

Mix ingredients 1: 1.
Place a ring or chain in the liquid.
Let sit for about 15 minutes.
Rub with a brush or cloth.
Dry and buff.

Real gemstones will not deteriorate in contact with these components, but colored rhinestones may lighten or discolor.

Attention! If your ring or earrings have pearls or colored decorative inserts, be careful, because peroxide can discolor such materials!

Salt

A bath of salt will help give the garment a shine and remove minor yellow deposits.

To enhance the effect, it is combined with tartar:

Dissolve in ½ l. 10 g of stone and 25 g of salt.
Soak the jewelry in the solution for no more than 20 minutes.

If there is no tartar on hand, pour half a liter of water into an aluminum pan, add dish detergent and 10 g of baking soda / salt each. Simmer over low heat for half an hour, dry and rub the restored product.

Olive oil

Regular olive oil can help remove minor deposits. Apply the product to a cloth, rub the ring and rinse with cold water. Regular processing with olive oil does not harm, but will not allow the garment to darken, so treat it 1-2 times a month.

Unusual methods

Unusual remedies include cigarette ash, powder, curdled milk, copper wire, foil, and raw potatoes.

We clean with foil and copper wire

These materials enhance the effectiveness of the main components and remove minor plaque:

Wrap the jewelry in foil along with 1 tsp. soda and salt.
Pour water into a metal container.
Place the foil pouch in a saucepan. If you are using wire, place it in water along with the silver piece.
Boil for 15 minutes.

Note ! An aluminum saucepan is a good substitute for foil, so you shouldn't put the bag in such a dish..

Potato peeling technique

Peel some potatoes and cover with water. Place a silver piece there and leave for 2-3 hours. After this period, intense blackness will be less noticeable, and insignificant ones will disappear completely.

Cigarette ash

Pour some water into a saucepan and add cigarette ash.

Boil the solution and place the jewelry inside. Simmer for 5-15 minutes over low heat and polish the product. To enhance the effect, add a little citric acid along with the ash.

Yogurt

Sour milk contains acid, only in a lower concentration than lemon, so the method is suitable for cleaning products containing inserts of gold and precious stones. Pour the yogurt into a glass, place the processed silver inside and finish processing after 12 hours.

With the help of sour milk or sour milk, you can.

Cosmetic powder

If you notice slight darkening, rub the silver with regular cosmetic powder. It absolutely does not harm products of any quality, since it is a gentle, polishing abrasive.

Features of cleaning products with stones, gilding

Expensive jewelry, complete with stones, requires special care, because with careless movement you risk tearing off and losing topaz, amber or malachite.

For light pollution:

Soak a cotton swab in cologne or alcohol.
Wipe all grooves gently.

To remove stains and stubborn blackness:

Dissolve shavings of laundry soap in water and add a little ammonia, citric acid, vinegar.
Soak the jewelry in the resulting solution for 10–20 minutes, depending on the intensity of the dirt, and rinse it under running water.

It is better not to use a toothbrush for jewelry with complex patterns and stones. Finally, rub the product with a soft cloth.

How to clean blackened silver

Blackened jewelry itself has a dark tint, so attempts to bleach them will be unsuccessful.

A combination of the following ingredients works well for blackened products:

2 tbsp. water;
soap shavings (10g);
1 tsp soda.

The solution does not need to be heated or boiled. Place the product inside and stand for 20 minutes, then polish it.

How to clean matte silver

Matte products can be easily cleaned with raw potatoes or a foil bag with soda. After the procedure, wipe the product dry with a dry cloth.

How to store silver properly

The frequency of washing silver jewelry and their service life depend on the correct storage.

Each piece of jewelry should have its own case - purchase it with the product.
Store silver away from household chemicals, medicine, food and medicine (especially iodine).
Remove jewelry before showering / bathing and applying makeup. The less the product comes into contact with cosmetics and water, the longer it retains its shine.
Wipe wet rings and earrings immediately with a soft cloth.

It is not difficult to put silver items in order, but it is imperative to follow the processing sequence and prepare cleansing solutions, ointments, starting from these recipes.

Larisa, June 30, 2018.

Almost every woman has elegant silver jewelry - chains, rings, earrings, bracelets, cuffs, pendants.

Silver is a beautiful metal with a soft shining luster, many endow it with magical properties.

Modern designers create interesting original jewelry from silver both for every day and for exceptional festive occasions.

Silver is a noble metal, which means it is not subject to corrosion and oxidation. However, silver jewelry from time to time and the impact of a number of negative factors lose their pure luster, becoming dark and dull. How to clean silver at home, so as not to spoil the products and restore their beauty?

Metal quality

Before you start cleaning a silver item, you need to check the sample displayed on the jewelry. If earrings, chains, rings, pendants and other jewelry are not made of high-quality silver, but from alloys, home cleaning can irreparably spoil the appearance. In this case, it is better to take the jewelry to a jewelry workshop for cleaning.

Not all items should be cleaned at home, sometimes a jewelry workshop is the best option.

Attention! You should be especially careful and careful if the product is decorated with enamel inserts, rhinestones, there are elements of gold and other metals.

Jewelry decorated with pearls, amber, turquoise, corals can only be cleaned with ammonia or medical alcohol.

Especially carefully you need to clean jewelry with stones.

Cleaning methods

For quality silver items, special jewelry and cleaning pastes and wipes are available.

However, to effectively refresh the look of jewelry, you can use a variety of tools that are always at hand in the household, such as:

vinegar;
beer;
soda;
salt;
milk;
ammonia;
lemon acid;
potatoes;
eggs.

You can also use toothpaste or powder, chapstick, and an eraser. Food foil is indispensable for home processing of silver jewelry.

Important! Do not use any abrasive substances - they will scratch the coating, and the silver jewelry will never have a clear, clean shine.

It is necessary to clean silver carefully, having gained patience, because haste in this matter is inappropriate.

And now, in more detail, how to clean silver from blackness at home.

Table vinegar.

This is the easiest and least laborious way. A 3-9% solution of table vinegar is used, but the essence cannot be used so as not to spoil the decoration. Vinegar is suitable for cleaning any silver items, including those with stones. The decoration is placed in vinegar for 20-30 minutes, for the best effect and in case of heavy dirt - for 1-2 hours. After that, you need to rub the decoration using suede for this.

The easiest way to cleanse silver is with table vinegar.

Beer.

The above method also works effectively if you use beer instead of vinegar. You can't drink this beer later, of course!

Soda.

Baking soda is great for dealing with dirt. However, soda powder is too coarse for a delicate silver surface, so it is imperative to make a solution or gruel out of soda:

For 1 part of water - 3 parts of soda. With this composition, you can wipe the product or boil it for 5-7 minutes.
In a glass of water - 20 g of soda, bring the solution to a boil, put the decoration there for 15-30 minutes, then dry.

In this case, food foil comes in handy. It must be placed on the bottom of the container, and decorations are already laid on the foil.

Salt.

Table salt helps to quickly clean silverware. The easiest way is to put fine salt in a soft cloth and wrap silver jewelry there. The package is placed in a container and filled with water. After 1-2 hours, the products will be clean.

There is another option that has been helping silver lovers put their jewelry in order for many years. A slurry of salt and soda mixed with a small amount of water is laid on a sheet of foil. Silver items are placed on top. After half an hour, the composition is washed off with cold water, the jewelry is dried and wiped dry with a napkin.

An effective way to get your favorite silver jewelry back to its original appearance is as follows:

10 g of salt, soda and any dishwashing detergent are mixed, 0.5 l of water is added.
Decorations are boiled in this solution for half an hour.
Cool, wipe until shiny.

Milk.

The milk method does not take much time, and the risk of spoiling your favorite jewelry is minimized! The chain, pendant, ring or earrings are placed in milk and boiled for several minutes, then allowed to cool and washed with running water, wiped dry - and you're done.

Ammonia.

A wonderful remedy that helps out in many difficult cases is ammonia. How can you use it to process silver items:

the simplest thing is to wipe it with ammonia using a soft cloth;

grated chalk is mixed with ammonia to the state of gruel, this mixture is applied to the decoration, wiped;
10 drops of ammonia are diluted in a glass of warm soapy water, chains and rings are lowered there, held for 10-15 minutes;
you can double the concentration of ammonia and hold the jewelry for about half an hour;

strongly blackened silver is dipped in an undiluted solution of ammonia and kept for no more than 10 minutes.

Attention! When working with ammonia or its solution, it is necessary to close the containers with a lid to avoid contact of alcohol vapors with the mucous membrane.

If the product is richly decorated with inserts, it is advisable to use rubbing alcohol. You can just hold the jewelry in it for 1-2 hours or rub it with a cotton swab.

Lemon acid.

Citric acid is also a good and easy way to help put silver jewelry in order.

The most common uses for citric acid are as follows:

100 g of citric acid is diluted with 0.5 l of water.
Decorations are placed in a container on foil.
Boil in lemon solution for 5-15 minutes.
Wash, dry and wipe dry.

Many people advise adding a copper product or wire to the solution.

Such a remedy is great for removing blackness from silver.

Potatoes.

Potatoes contain a large amount of starch, which is great for removing dirt and blackening from silver jewelry.

How potatoes are used:

Grate 1 potato, add cold water, put decorations for 1-2 hours.
You can use cleaners, they are also filled with water and silver is immersed there.
The potato broth is cooled, silverware is placed in it for 2-3 hours.

Eggs.

You can clean silver in an interesting way - using ordinary chicken eggs. How it's done:

The yolks are separated from the whites and whipped.
1 tbsp is added to the yolks. l. means for whitening "Whiteness".
Products are processed with a napkin soaked in the resulting solution.

Egg yolks mixed with "Whiteness" will restore the original appearance of silver jewelry

Toothpaste.

It has long been customary to use tooth powder to polish metal, including silver items. However, the powder can cause scratches, so it is best to replace it with white toothpaste. The paste should be the most common, without additives, gels or colored ones will not work.

Silver is laid out on a napkin and polished with a cloth, cotton swab or soft toothbrush. Then the jewelry must be washed, blotted with excess moisture and dried.

Hygienic lipstick.

Old chapstick will still serve to bring beauty back to silver jewelry. To do this, apply lipstick to a napkin or directly to a piece of jewelry and rub it. However, it must be borne in mind that embossed chains or earrings can be difficult to get rid of lipstick residues. Not suitable for these purposes and lip gloss.

Hygienic lipstick copes well with dirt on silver

Eraser.

If the contamination is minor, you can use a regular eraser. The entire surface of the decoration is processed with it. So you can quickly put the products in order.

How to store silver jewelry

In order not to spend a lot of effort and money on restoring the original beautiful appearance of expensive silver jewelry, it must be remembered that there are also storage rules for silver. If you follow them, then silverware will look new, shiny and clean for a long time.

The rules are simple:

Do not store or wear silver in places with high humidity (beach, pool, sauna).
Do not store jewelry near medicines.
Having removed the silver jewelry, it is worth wiping them with a soft cloth, removing the remnants of sebum, sweat, and moisture.

When storing the product, do not heap into one pile, you need to carefully lay out or hang the chains, use cases lined with soft suede for rings, and boxes for earrings. You can purchase a special box to store your jewelry.
If a piece of jewelry is rarely worn, it can be wrapped in foil, so contact with air will be excluded.

Silverware is a sign of a good home, and silver jewelry is a testament to the delicate taste of their owners. But, unfortunately, this noble metal darkens over time and loses its attractive appearance. Therefore, it is always useful to know how and with what to clean silver at home.

Superstitions aside, the blackening of silver can be attributed to two completely natural chemical reactions:

the formation of silver sulfide. This process requires two conditions - the presence of sulfur-containing compounds and high humidity. They are provided by the human body itself. The skin produces some hydrogen sulfide when you sweat. When reacting with silver ions, a thin sulfide film is formed, which causes blackening of the product;
oxidation in air. Silver itself, being a noble metal, is not oxidized by oxygen, hydrogen or nitrogen. However, dishes, cutlery or jewelry are not made of pure silver, but of an alloy - most often with copper. Dark copper oxide forms in the air, and the product loses its shine and turns black. Therefore, the lower the sample, the more actively silver is oxidized.

Darkening can occur when silver objects come into contact with sulfur-containing food - for example, onions or eggs, - with aggressive household chemicals, a number of medicines. Intense blackening is also observed under conditions of air contaminated with hydrogen sulfide.

Modern jewelry technologies help protect silver from darkening. For this, the processes of rhodium plating, passivation, cataphoretic coating, etc. have been developed. However, antique jewelry and dishes "with history" still need special care.

Silver cleaning soda

The simplest and most affordable home remedy for silver cleaning is baking soda. Moreover, with its help, you can not clean the product in the traditional sense, but restore silver from sulfide.

This is done like this:

Dissolve 2 tablespoons of baking soda in 0.5 liters of water;
pour the solution into an aluminum dish;
place a silver object in it;
bring the solution to a boil and boil with the product for 10-15 minutes;
cool the solution, remove the object, rinse with clean water and polish with a soft cloth.

The meaning of this manipulation is that an aqueous solution of soda has alkaline properties. When aluminum reacts with alkali, atomic hydrogen is formed, which reduces silver from sulfide. Therefore, if there is no aluminum cookware, you can put a piece of wire or any other object made of this metal into the enameled one.

We clean with foil

A similar chemical reaction can be produced with food foil, which is also made from aluminum.

This method is especially useful for cleaning small jewelry or silver coins:

cut the foil into small squares;
place a teaspoon of wet baking soda in the center;
put an object on the soda and wrap the foil with an envelope;
dip the envelope in hot water and boil for 10-15 minutes;
cool, remove the item, rinse with clean water and polish with a soft cloth.

If you need to restore voluminous silver items - vases, dishes, candlesticks, - you can line suitable sized dishes with aluminum foil, add soda at the rate of 2 tablespoons per 0.5 liters of water and boil them in the same way.

How to clean with vinegar?

Often, various acids are used to clean silver items - for example, phosphoric acid or formic acid.

At home, vinegar in low concentration is also suitable:

pour a little 3% vinegar into an enamel bowl;
put silver items in it and warm it up slightly, in no case bringing it to a boil;
cool the solution for 15 minutes;
remove the items, rinse them thoroughly with distilled water and polish with a soft cloth.

Alternatively, you can simply wipe the items with a cotton swab dipped in vinegar, but the reaction proceeds better when heated. It should be borne in mind that acids do not reduce silver, unlike soda and aluminum. They interact with metal oxides inside the alloy, and therefore act on silver items to some extent destructively.

Citric acid from blackness

Citric acid acts more aggressively on silver than acetic acid, but if a number of conditions are met, it can also be used:

in an enamel bowl, prepare a solution of 100 grams of citric acid powder and 0.5 liters of water;
put silver products in a solution, place a piece of copper wire in the same place and put the dishes in a water bath;
warm up for 15 minutes;
remove the items, rinse them with distilled water and polish with a soft cloth.

Washing after cleaning silver objects in acidic solutions is a mandatory procedure. Residual acids must be completely removed, otherwise there is a danger of damage to the product. Instead of distilled water, you can use a soda solution for this to carry out the neutralization reaction. Then rinse the item again with clean water.

Ammonium for purifying silver

Ammonia is an aqueous solution of ammonia. In Soviet times, it was often used by collectors of old coins, since more professional cleaning products were not readily available.

It is very simple to clean silver from blackness with ammonia:

for 1 liter of water, take 2 tablespoons of the ready-made pharmaceutical solution of ammonia;
lower the product into it;
keep the object in the solution for 15 minutes from 1 hour, depending on the degree of darkening;
remove the product, rinse with clean water and polish with a soft cloth.

An aqueous solution of ammonia dissolves silver sulfide, but it does so rather slowly. An especially low reaction rate is observed when cleaning antiques - in the era before Catherine the Great, antimony and arsenic were included in silver alloys, forming poorly soluble compounds with silver. Thiourea is more effective - a white powder that decomposes in water to ammonia and carbon dioxide and more successfully copes with a sulfide film.

We clean with potatoes

Peeling silver objects with potatoes is one of the most common folk recipes.

The procedure looks like this:

one raw peeled potato is grated on a fine grater;
potato gruel is poured into a glass of water and left for 10 minutes with stirring;
the mixture is reclined on cheesecloth and filtered;
the silver item is immersed in the drained liquid for 15-20 minutes, after which it is removed, washed and polished with a soft cloth.

Judging by the reviews, the tool helps well with slight darkening of silver.

We use toothpaste

Cleaning silver with toothpaste is another product of folk art. It is based on an abrasive effect, so the toothpaste removes sulphide deposits by a purely mechanical means.

For manipulation, you need to take a soft toothbrush and any paste. After squeezing out a pea-sized portion, gently rub the paste over the surface of the product. Then rinse well with clean water and polish.

Olive oil for cleaning silver

Sometimes it is recommended to use all kinds of vegetable fats as a cleaning agent - most often olive oil. It should be noted that it will not do anything with either sulphide deposits or oxides. Olive oil is not a silver cleaner, but a polish.

If the product has not darkened, has not faded, but just want to give it additional shine, it is enough to moisten a cotton pad with olive oil or any other vegetable oil and wipe the metal surface. Then use a soft cloth to shine.

Eraser cleaning option

A very simple and even a little childish way to slightly update a silver object is to rub it with a regular eraser. This is not to say that this is a very effective method, but with a slight tarnishing of silver, some result can be noticed. It is achieved exclusively due to mechanical action on the surface.

It does not make sense to clean heavily blackened items or items with an uneven surface with an eraser.

How not to spoil silver jewelry?

When choosing a way to restore silver items, you need to remember the following rules:

Do not use coarse abrasives for mechanical cleaning - dental or cleaning powders, salt, soda. They leave abrasions on the surface, and subsequently it will be more difficult to clean the silver.
Do not exceed the time the products are exposed to acids - they can cause a corrosive process.
Do not exceed the permissible concentration of solutions.

We must also not forget about our own safety. When working with solutions of acids and alkalis, you need to open windows, protect your hands with gloves.

The nuances of cleaning products with stones, gilding

Cleaning of silver items inlaid with natural stones, rhinestones, ivory or enamels has its own subtleties. Most of the above tools are unsuitable for this.

You can clean such items only with the help of cotton swabs and professional pastes and solutions for cleaning silver:

"Aladdin";
Town Talk;
"Mascot".

Gilded silver items need cleaning much less often, since they do not blacken and practically do not tarnish. With a slight tarnishing, you can use one of these professional products, choosing from their rulers one that is suitable for both gold and silver.

It is better not to clean highly artistic silver items at home and go to a jewelry workshop.

You can quickly and effectively clean silver jewelry with stones by using the services of a jeweler or by purchasing a multicomponent cleaner for fabulous money. However, this option is not suitable for every owner of silver jewelry. But if you try the proven methods of cleaning this metal at home, almost any woman can remove blackness from silver and restore its former shine.

Why does silver darken?

There is a belief that the reason for the darkening of silver with or without inserts lies in a serious illness of the owner of the jewelry or induced damage. In such situations, superstitious people prefer to turn to sorcerers and grandmothers. In fact, there is a scientific explanation for this phenomenon.

Due to the chemical oxidation reaction a blue-green bloom forms on silver. When silver comes into contact with sulfur (and it is contained in the form of amino acids even in human sweat) black sulfide is formed.

The share of metal in silver jewelry is maximum 92%. The remaining 8% is copper, platinum, gold, zinc. It is thanks to them that the products acquire strength, since silver by its nature is a rather soft metal. But if there is little of it in the decoration, the darkening will occur faster.

925 jewelry is of higher quality, durability and less tendency to tarnish.

Silver jewelry is often coated with rhodium to protect it from oxidation. This protection is enough for only a few years, then it wears out and the silver darkens. In addition, rhodium is quite fragile in use, subject to mechanical damage, so after a while the jewelry loses its former attractiveness.

Another reason for the darkening of silver items is dishonest manufacturers. They add less metal than necessary, so jewelry quickly loses its luster.

Silver tarnishes from interaction with moisture, therefore, products made of this metal must be removed before going to the pool and swimming in the lake, taking a shower, wet cleaning the room, washing dishes.

Preparatory work

Before you start cleaning jewelry, you need to remove grease, dust, dirt from them. For this procedure, you will need toilet soap (regular or liquid), dishwashing gel diluted with water, shampoo.

After the silver jewelry has been in the soapy solution for a while, the dirt will come off, and it will be much easier to clean the item. In hard-to-reach places, you need to walk with a brush, then rinse the products in cool water.

Effective methods

To make silver jewelry with pebbles shine like a store, you must use a 10% solution of ammonia. Immerse silver in it for 15 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly with a cool stream of water and pat dry with a soft cloth. If you do not want to soak your jewelry, take a woolen cloth, moisten it with alcohol and wipe the piece. This method is not recommended for jewelry with pearls, as the stones can change their original color.

You can make a solution from ammonia, peroxide and soap(in liquid form). Mix all the ingredients well and immerse the silver in there. The soaking time depends on the degree of soiling. Then the products are washed and wiped well with a soft cloth.

Homes can be cleaned with baking soda for silver. It will take two tablespoons of the substance per 500 ml of water. After boiling the solution, put the foil paper and decorations there. The result will be noticeable after a short period of time.

There is another soda-based cleaning method. You need to take a liter of water, a tablespoon of baking soda, table salt and dishwashing gel. Mix everything well. Immerse silver jewelry in the resulting solution and boil for half an hour.

To give the decoration its former attractiveness, use a gruel of baking soda and water... It is applied to the product and gently rubbed to a shine with a soft cloth or a piece of bandage. Hard-to-reach areas can be brushed with an old toothbrush.

Citric acid will help to quickly remove blackness from silver. Take 100 g of acid in 2 glasses of water. Put on fire, dip copper wire in the solution, then silver jewelry. Boil for 30 minutes. Rinse the products under running water, blot with a dry soft cloth.

Improvised means

For silver items that have not suffered much from dark bloom, you can use potato broth. A piece of foil and jewelry are immersed in it for 5 minutes. If you don't have time to cook potatoes, you can grate a raw vegetable.

Has good cleansing properties boiled egg liquid... It must be cooled and silver jewelry immersed in it. The dark coating will disappear.

Table vinegar will help to effectively remove dirt from products. Heat a small amount of vinegar and put the silver there. Wait 15 minutes. If during this time all plaque has not completely disappeared, then the jewelry is washed with water and lightly wiped with a cotton towel.

Toothpaste has established itself as an effective cleaning agent for silverware. However, it is only suitable for jewelry with a smooth surface. If the jewelry has precious inserts, graceful patterns, they may suffer from mechanical cleaning (rub off, scratch).

For jewelry with semiprecious inlays, it is best to use ammonia. Dissolve 6 drops of the substance in 250 ml of water, wet a sponge or cloth, clean the product. This cleaning method is not suitable for pearl products.

If you are afraid to clean silver with improvised means, purchase wet wipes with impregnation in a specialized salon. They will help to gently remove dirt from the surface of jewelry. After such cleaning, a protective film will appear on the silver and it will turn black much less often.

There are some silver objects in every house. Unfortunately, this noble metal is sensitive to environmental influences. Products can turn yellow, turn black and even turn green, losing their sophisticated look. Learn how to clean silver at home to keep jewelry, cutlery, old coins and other items looking like new. Decide when you can get by with improvised means and special fluids, and in which cases it is better to contact a specialist.

Jewelry includes a wide variety of products: smooth and openwork rings, rings with inserts of various stones, bracelets, chains, pendants, earrings. The composition of the alloys from which these objects are made can also be different. Accordingly, the approaches to cleaning each type of product will differ. However, there are general recommendations for high-quality cleaning of silver items.

Silver darkened

First of all, it is advisable to wash silver jewelry that has lost its chic from trivial dirt. To do this, soak them for two hours in a warm solution of soap or detergent, then clean hard-to-reach areas with a soft brush. Sometimes this alone is enough to return the jewelry to a completely acceptable look.
For cleaning, do not use materials with abrasive particles, hard sponges, brushes.
Using special jewelry cosmetics for silver, do not overdo it: they contain a lot of powerful "chemistry", you can harm jewelry. Follow the instructions.
When cleaning, do not use rubber gloves: rubber contains sulfur, from which the silver darkens quickly. Nitrile gloves can be worn if necessary.
Regardless of the method used, cleaning should be completed by rinsing with warm water, drying with a soft cloth.
Silver items should not be left wet after washing: moisture is contraindicated for them, since stains form on the surface.
It is better to entrust the cleaning of too dirty or very valuable items made of silver to a jeweler.
Having returned the jewelry to its original appearance, you should not put it on right away. It is necessary to wait for a natural protective film to form on the surface. A few days are enough for this.

Clean without risk of damage

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How to bring back shine to jewelry without inserts and stones

It is not difficult to clean silver rings, earrings, pendants and bracelets without inserts from dirt and dark plaque. Any methods from those that will be described below are suitable for them. The main thing is not to forget that silver, especially jewelry (samples 925, 960), is a relatively soft metal, and its cleaning with coarse abrasives is unacceptable. This fact must be taken into account when choosing how to clean silver: after scratching the surface, you can lose the pleasure of using an elegant jewelry.

Ring without inserts

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Ammonium - a bogatyr in cleaning

The most common and effective way to restore a charming shine to jewelry is to use ammonia. You can choose any of the proposed recipes according to your taste (more precisely, according to the "scent"). In the first case, you need:

Purchase ammonia (10%) at the pharmacy.
Place the jewelry to be cleaned in a glass container, pour a little undiluted alcohol there to cover the jewelry.
Leave on for 15 minutes.
After this period of time, remove the silver from the dishes, rinse well with water and dry.

Important: The ammonia solution has a very pungent odor. It is necessary to work with it in a ventilated room, on a balcony or in the open air. Do not bend low over a container with liquid: this is fraught with burns to the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract in sensitive people.

It is important to wipe the silver dry

The second recipe involves diluting ammonia and using additional components. To implement it, simple actions are required:

Add a tablespoon of ammonia to a jar with 250 ml of cold water.
After stirring the solution, add a few drops of hydrogen peroxide and baby shampoo to it.
Immerse silver jewelry or cutlery that needs cleaning in the resulting "cocktail" for 15 minutes. If after that the appearance of the jewelry has not improved much, you can leave them for another 15 minutes. However, it is not worth keeping in solution for more than an hour.
When a positive result becomes obvious, take out the prettier little things, rinse, wipe with a microfiber cloth and admire the result.

The third recipe for cleaning silver with your own hands also works effectively:

Mix tooth powder with ammonia solution to a mushy consistency. You can use finely ground chalk instead of powder.
Using a piece of cotton wool (cotton pad), apply the resulting paste to the silver item.
Leave on for a sufficient time for the cleaning mixture to dry.
Wipe the product with a dry soft cloth, then rinse, wipe dry.

Simple but effective "cleaners"

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Life hacks from the kitchen - cleaning silver without problems

In any kitchen, next to the hostess, there are a lot of affordable and effective cleaning agents, sometimes completely unexpected. When silver rings or bracelets begin to unequivocally hint that it's time to put them in order, you just have to look around - there is an option of how to clean the silver at home, there and then there.

You can name a number of liquids that will help restore jewelry to its original noble appearance:

A good remedy for getting rid of plaque and mold is table vinegar (6%). Using it for this purpose is elementary. The vinegar should be slightly warmed up, soaked in a small soft cloth, you can use a cotton pad, and thoroughly wipe the metal.
If you mix 100 ml of the same vinegar with 50 g of baking soda and keep silver items in it for 2 hours, they will delight you with their shine.
The use of this "cleaning agent" can be amusing, but it cleans the metal remarkably. It is necessary to pour Coca-Cola into a saucepan, immerse the decorations that require cleaning into it, heat and boil the contents for 3-5 minutes.
Tomato ketchup is (surprisingly, isn't it?) Good for peeling tarnished, smooth silverware. They need to be put in a cup of ketchup for a few minutes, after which the rest of the ketchup should be removed with a sponge or cloth.
Another amazing remedy is the water left over from boiling eggs. After cooling it to a warm state, place silver objects in water for 20 minutes, they can be easily cleaned.
The hot broth remaining after cooking potatoes in their uniforms also miraculously removes plaque from the surface of silverware placed in it in a quarter of an hour. The effect is enhanced by placing a piece of foil on the bottom of the dish.
Egg yolk helps cleanse silver items and protects them from further contamination. It just needs to be applied to the surface, left to dry, and then rinsed off.

Yolk, potatoes will easily brighten silver

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Five handy tools from the kitchen and bathroom

Continuing the list of kitchen life hacks for cleaning silver at home, you should pay tribute to the garlic husk. Some people collect it for later use in the garden. It will also help to cope with severe contamination of silver cutlery and coins, if you prepare a concentrated decoction of the husk, dip the products into it and boil for 20-50 minutes (until the blackness disappears). The process will speed up if you add a tablespoon of salt to a liter of broth.

Table salt itself is also a wonderful helper in removing plaque from silver items. Moreover, it is always available in the kitchen, and the method of using it is simple. It consists in the following. It is necessary to prepare a solution at the rate of: a teaspoon of salt in a glass of water, and boil darkened spoons or glasses in this composition for a quarter of an hour.

Garlic peels should not be thrown away

Baking soda is just as easy to use. Having poured it into a small container, you need to add a little water, bringing it to a pasty state. With this paste, you need to gently wipe the surface of the product using a soft cloth, napkin or toothbrush. When blackening the paste collected on a rag, it is required to replace it, avoiding smearing of blackness on the surface of the product. After a few minutes, the silver will shine.

Many housewives give priority to tooth powder or toothpaste when cleaning silver items. This simple method can be used, bearing in mind that the pastes must be of high quality, non-abrasive. Whitening paste, gel paste or paste with colored splashes in this case are not suitable. To clean silver with this method, you don't need much skill: you need to act by analogy with soda (and without fanaticism!).

A woman will always find another tool that helps to clean a ring or other small thing in her own cosmetic bag. It is worth smearing the surface with lipstick (not hygienic!) And rub it well with a cotton pad - the blackness on the silver is gone!

Toothpaste perfectly cleans metal

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Several original ways to purify silver

There are already a lot of possibilities for cleaning silver from blackness at home. But no fewer ways can be named: in any business, the reserves of folk wisdom are inexhaustible. we recommend dwelling on several methods:

Place the shell of a raw egg in a small saucepan, pour 500 ml of water, add a teaspoon of salt. Bring contents to a boil, remove from heat. Immerse in this "broth" products that need cleaning. In just a minute, you can admire the updated decorations or cutlery.
Dilute citric acid (100 g) in 700 ml of water, put the dishes with the solution in a water bath. Place a piece of copper wire and silver items at the bottom. Soak for half an hour in a water bath.
Spray window cleaner on silver, wipe with a soft cloth.
Place the product in curdled milk for a few minutes.

Lipstick - and the dark bloom is gone

The next method deserves a more detailed consideration. It is not much more complicated than the previous ones, but at the same time it works quickly and incredibly efficiently. The method is based on the use of food foil; there are several versions of it.

The first way to clean silver with foil (for light dirt):

Prepare a glass of water, a palm-sized piece of foil, a teaspoon of salt or its mixture with soda.
Tear the foil into pieces, put it in water, add salt.
Stir everything until the salt dissolves.
Immerse the jewelry in the solution.
A quarter of an hour is enough to achieve the result.

How effective is the use of foil, you can see by watching the video.

Video: How to clean silver at home

Another way (for heavily soiled jewelry):

Cover a small container with foil, put silver jewelry on it in one layer.
Sprinkle baking soda on the items.
Pour boiling water or potato broth so that the liquid covers the silver.
Observe for 3-5 minutes the passage of a miracle process, as a result of which the jewelry will become literally new, and they can be removed.

Silver cleaning using foil

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How to clean a silver chain

Of all the silver jewelry, chains are especially susceptible to the blackening process, since they are most in contact with the human body. Due to their relief, dirt accumulates more strongly and is less accessible for exposure than plaque on a smooth ring or bracelet. At first glance, the cleaning procedure for these items seems too complicated. In fact, chains are not a big hassle when cleaning silver at home.

Darkened Silver Chain

Almost all the methods presented above are applicable to cleaning such jewelry. Additionally, there are a couple of methods to consider for cleaning very dirty chains. The first is the removal of blackness with citric acid:

Pour 500 ml of water into a stainless steel dish.
Dissolve a package of citric acid (100 g) in water.
Put a chain in an acidic solution.
Boil for 5-10 minutes, leave for half an hour.
Remove the product from the solution, rinse under the tap. At the same time, you can see that the silver lightened noticeably, but there is no shine. The procedure should be continued.
Pour 100 ml of water into a plastic bottle (for example, after liquid soap), add 30 ml of detergent.
Place the chain in this container, screw on the lid and shake vigorously for 5-10 minutes.
Remove the shining chain, rinse, wipe dry.

Important: The described method is unacceptable to use for cleaning blackened products: acid, together with dirt, will remove blackening.

After cleaning, the chain shines

Now, how to clean a silver chain with ammonia at home:

Pour 500 ml of water, 50 ml of detergent into a stainless steel container.
Dip the silver chain into the solution.
Boil for up to 10 minutes.
Add ammonia solution (10-20 ml), leave for 15 minutes.
Remove the chain, rinse it.
Repeat items 6-8 from the previous recipe.
The boiling and holding processes can be lengthened according to the degree of blackening of the product. If cleaning is not sufficient, it is recommended to repeat it.

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Silver turned yellow - what to do

So far, it has been about the darkening (blackening) of silver, which occurs most often from exposure to sulfur contained in human sweat and in the environment. But sometimes a very ugly yellow coating appears on silver jewelry, which is difficult to get rid of. Substances from the halogen group may be the culprits. At home, this is usually iodine. And when visiting the pool, chlorine can harm if they disinfect water.

Silver turned yellow

To remove yellowness from a silver item, line it with grated raw potatoes. Under the influence of starch contained in it, iodine stains will change color, acquire a bluish tint to match the color of silver and become invisible. For this purpose, you can use ready-made starch, sprinkling silver with it.

You can also try to clean the yellowed product in soapy water:

Prepare 200 ml of a solution of liquid soap in water.
Add a teaspoon of ammonia to it, stir.
Dip silver in this mixture, stand for half an hour.
Remove the jewelry, brush it with toothpaste, powder or baking soda (techniques are described above).
Rinse with water, dry with a soft cloth.

Exquisite jewelry with stones

If the use of home remedies does not work, it is worth resorting to the help of special cleaning agents for silver. This, for example, is the domestic "FLUR", the Italian Silbo, its German counterpart Dipping Bath for Silver. You need to use such formulations strictly according to the instructions.

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Features of caring for certain types of silver items

Having understood the numerous methods of cleaning silver, it is necessary to pay attention to some types of products made of this metal that require a special approach. These are items with various types of coatings and finishes, as well as jewelry with stones.

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How to upgrade jewelry with stones

When planning the cleaning of silver items with stones, you need to take care of the safety of the latter. It should be noted that not only jewelry is trimmed with stones, but also various accessories, decor items, dishes. Care should be taken in this case to be gentle, taking into account both the properties of the metal and the features of the stones. It will not be possible to list all of them, but it is important to say about some:

Aquamarine, emerald, sapphire have a high density. Almost any cleaning method is not harmful to them. But if the stones are not fixed in the frame with the help of paws, but are glued, soaking in liquid (especially hot) is contraindicated for them: the jewelry can come off.
Stones such as turquoise, moonstone, malachite, opal are not so dense - using mechanical cleaning leads to scratches on their surface. For them, you should choose mild detergents, baths.
Pomegranate, ruby, topaz do not tolerate hot water - their color changes from high temperatures.
Stones of organic origin require especially careful treatment: coral, pearls, amber. Due to the exceptional sensitivity to alkalis and acids, it is advisable to entrust the cleaning of these materials to specialists.

It is important to consider the properties of the stone

In general, if there is such an opportunity, it is better to give any silver items with stones for cleaning to professionals, or use special compounds sold in jewelry stores. Jewelry cosmetics reliably remove impurities and cover the items with a protective layer that prevents them from oxidation in the future. Experts recommend the brands Leuchtturm, Aladdin, the already mentioned Silbo, Talisman.

But if the craving for amateur performance is irresistible, try this home method:

Rub with laundry soap.
Add a little water and 5-7 drops of ammonia.
Bring the mixture to a boil (do not boil!).
After cooling the composition, apply it to the metal with a soft brush, rub.
Remove darkening around the stone with a cotton swab moistened with the same product.

Silver jewelry with pearls

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How to make pearl jewelry shine

To make jewelry with pearls look presentable, they need very careful systematic care. The simplest way to clean such products from contamination is to "bathe" them in a warm foam bath. For this you need:

Prepare a washing solution from 200 ml of heated water and a teaspoon of shampoo (liquid soap).
After immersing the products in liquid, leave for an hour.
After removing from the bath, rub the openwork parts with a cotton swab or a soft brush.
Rinse jewelry, dry with velvet cloth or flannel

The native element of pearls is salty sea water. You can pamper him with a spa treatment with salt:

Place the silver jewelry with pearls on a linen or cotton cloth, sprinkle thickly with salt (not iodized!).
Tie the fabric to the contents in a tight knot.
Collect room temperature water in a bowl or large bowl.
Rinse the bundle in water until the salt dissolves.
Rinse, dry, enjoy the result: such a water procedure will remove blackness from silver, and yellowness from pearls, returning the product to its original appearance.

Rhodium plated silver

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Subtleties of rhodium-plated silver care

Rhodium plating is the application of a protective layer of the noble metal rhodium (platinum group) to a silver product. Thanks to this coating, silver items become more durable, do not blacken, since the rhodium layer is not subject to oxidation. The special cleaning liquids for silver and the cleaning methods presented above are unsuitable for cleaning such items, and they are not even necessary.

For regular cleaning of rhodium-plated silver, the use of soapy water and a soft cloth is sufficient. It is also worth taking advantage of the rhodium-plated silver care wipes offered by jewelry stores. They are impregnated with special compounds. Just wiping a rhodium-plated ring or bracelet with such a napkin, you can admire its shine, pleasing to the eye. Napkins are especially convenient for the care of silver watches.

The main concern of the owner of rhodium-plated earrings and chains is not to clean them, but to protect the protective layer from damage. Rhodium does not tolerate the effects of sweat and sebum - you need to remove the jewelry covered with it at night, and also heading to the gym, bath, sauna. Do not expose the protective coating to risk, washing dishes or washing clothes, let your favorite things spend this time in the box.

Silver cup holder with gilding

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How to return gilded silver to its original appearance

Taking care of gilded items does not cause much trouble, the methods of cleaning gilding are as follows:

A slightly soiled product should only be wiped with dry suede.
The more contaminated thing should be wiped with a cotton swab dipped in turpentine or alcohol.
You can dip the gilded product into a vinegar solution (dissolve 2 tablespoons of vinegar in a liter of water). After keeping the item to be cleaned in this liquid for a quarter of an hour, rinse it and wipe it off with a suede cloth.
A truly popular way: immerse a gilded silver jewelry in a container with beer, hold for half an hour, then rinse thoroughly and polish with suede.
It is useful to periodically polish the gilding with a piece of suede or flannel moistened with egg yolk or the same beer. By the way, rhodium plating will also like it.
Gray spots are removed from gilding with ammonia.
Lipstick will help to clean the gilding on small items, but you should not overdo it: lipstick is still an abrasive, albeit very delicate.
You can add shine to the gilding by wiping the surface of the peeled and cut onion, and then polishing with suede.

Blackened silver decoration

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Proper care of blackened silver

Niello is a clear dark pattern on a light background; blackened items look noble. But if you are going to clean the silver at home, there is a risk of causing irreparable harm to such jewelry. If the light areas are darkened, it is difficult to clean such silver. It is unacceptable to use abrasives, boiling, ammonia - all these methods will inevitably lead to the destruction of the rabble. However, the following methods are suitable:

Prepare a soapy solution with a pinch of salt, immerse the products that require cleaning in it. Wait 15-20 minutes, rinse and dry the cleaned items.
Place the chopped raw potatoes in the water, put the items to be cleaned in the same place, and stand for 4 hours. Rinse and dry the silver.

Silver plate

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How to wash the silverware

Most silverware and cutlery are not inlaid. Any method recommended for silver jewelry without stones is suitable for cleaning them. Ammonia, potato broth, salt and soda are suitable for this ... there are countless ways. It is worth dwelling in more detail on one more option for using soda in relation to cleaning table silver. To implement it, you need to do the following:

Prepare an old aluminum pan. If there is none, line the bottom and sides of any saucepan with baking foil.
Place silver cutlery in a container.
Cover with baking soda without sparing it.
Fill with water so that it covers the silver completely.
Cover with a sheet of foil on top.
Putting the pan on the fire, wait until it boils and immediately turn off the heating.
Leave the container with the contents for 20 minutes, then remove the silver, rinse, wipe and enjoy its transformation.

Making silverware with soda and foil

You have learned many ways to clean silver at home, you can test them in practice and make sure that it is sometimes useful not only to understand the brands of special cleaning agents for silver jewelry, but also to be able to properly use the materials at hand. However, before checking the proposed options in practice, it is better to consult with specialists so as not to risk a valuable thing for the sake of possible savings.