Silver in its natural form reacts with the environment over a period of time and becomes tarnished. This does not mean that your silver jewelry is defective.
You must understand that when any metal reacts with chemicals present in the air, it gets darkened. In fact, it shows that your ornaments are made of good quality and pure silver.
When your jewelry becomes dull, yellowish, brown, or black in color, you can easily get its original hue back. Here are a few steps that will help you restore its shine and color.
Storing Silver
By keeping silver items like mens silver bracelet in the humid and open air for a long time can tarnish it quickly. It first turns yellow, then brown, and eventually becomes completely black. This happens due to the oxidation of the metal.
In order to restore its original look, you need to store it in an air-tight bag, be it a plastic zip-lock ones or made up of cloth. Do not keep them loose in your jewelry box or drawers as they are not scratch-proof and might get damaged.
Cleaning Silver Items
Using 100% soft cotton cloth, you can gently rub off the excess dirt accumulated on it. Make sure that you do not rub it too briskly, as it might get scratched.
You could also use a brush with soft bristles to clean the silver ornaments. It is strictly recommended that you do not use paper or polyester, as they have wooden fibers which can cause fine lines on their surface.
The other way to get rid of dirt, makeup, and fingerprints on its surface, you use mild dishwashing liquid detergent. Take about half a cup of warm water, add a small amount of dishwashing detergent, softly wash the piece, and rinse it with clean water.
If needed, you can also use a soft bristle brush to remove the settled dirt on it, especially in the corners. Once completely dried, store it in a zip lock air-tight bag.
If an item has turned black completely, then it needs much more than just a gentle cleaning. You could opt for a deeper cleaning technique using a silver polish spray or paste cleaner.
This method is not recommended at home in case it is studded with precious or semi-precious gemstones. You could approach the experts to help you with it.
Make sure you get it repaired with a reliable shop before you get it cleaned.
However, if it has no gemstones, then you could clean it with the help of dip polish paste or cleaner, merely by following the simple instructions mentioned on the package of the cleaner. While doing so, you need to make sure that you do not overuse it, as these cleaners sometimes can be harsh on silverware or jewelry.
Once you have your silver all cleaned up, you need to take some preventive steps, so that it does tarnish again. Here is what you can do:
- Clean the items regularly
- Store them in airtight boxes or pouches
- Do not expose them to hair care products, household chemicals, cosmetics, perfumes, latex, chlorinated water, perspiration, sunlight, and humidity.
All the above-mentioned tips will help you keep your silver jewelry and silverware beautiful and sparkling forever.