Handcrafted Jewelry News from a Maine Jewelry Store

Years ago I wore lots of silver earrings and rings. If you looked at them now though, you sure couldn’t tell they were silver. Since the styles have returned, I wondered if it was possible to bring back the shine too.

Well, there is. But you must be careful with silver. It’s a relatively soft metal that scratches easily. The real problem with silver however, is tarnish. Exposure to air, humidity and light causes silver to begin turning a goldish color. Wait awhile and that gold will eventually turn black. If you’re having trouble telling your silver earrings from the gold ones, it’s time to clean!

The best way to keep silver clean is with a soft cloth. 100% cotton flannel works well as long as there are no nubs in the fabric. Special cleaning cloths are available too. (Check out Sunshine Cloths in our Accessories section.) The important thing to remember is it’s easy to scratch silver so stay away from using rough fabrics or brushes (never use a toothbrush!). Rub the piece gently in an up and down motion, never in circles.

Ok. That works for the earring that is just a bit off color. But what about the pendant that has those big black spots of tarnish?  I’ll cover that next time.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 6th, 2007 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Jewelry Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.