Cleaning tarnished silver jewelry?

Question

What is the best way to clean tarnished sterling silver jewelry? And how can I prevent/delay it from happening in the future with new jewelry?

Answer 1

As far as preventing it from happening, I don't know.

As far as cleaning quickly and easily with something you already have in your home, toothpaste.  Works almost instantly.  Just rub the toothpaste all over the item till the tarnish vanishes, rinse under the tap and dry with towel or paper towel.  I have done this lots of times, works in seconds.

Answer 2

You could use a silver cleaner such as Tarn-X or Wright's Silver Cleaner.  If there are little spaces in the jewelrey that you can't clean out very well with a paper towel/rag, then you could use a soft toothbrush for the details.

I don't know of any way to prevent silver from tarnishing, except to clean it regularly, and to keep it out of the elements and such.  You should probably keep any silver - or any expensive jewelry, for that matter - in a jewelery box, to protect it.

Answer 3

to clean tarnished silver you need to clean it with silver cleaner, and might need to get it professional, re-sealed, there is really not stopping it except for keeping it in silver safe containers, and cleaning it every couple of months.  

Answer 4

There are dip cleaners that work instantly, be sure to read the directions because there are some stones and other materials that may be on your silver that you don't want to dip.  You should be able to find this at your local hardware or drug store.

There are also treated cloths you can use - mostly I see these from jewelry or jewelry component suppliers.

I like to keep both on hand, I have lots of silver jewelery and also make jewelry with silver so am always cleaning something.

To keep things from getting tarnished, you can use non tarnish bags, these come in both plastic zip-lock as well as cloth style bags.  (Check with riogrand.com or firemountaingems.com - they should also have the cleaning clothes).  

Keeping your jewelry away from exposure to open air and moisture will also help keep it from tarnishing.  Keeping it in individual containers will help to keep it from getting scratched as well.

The WORST place to keep your jewelry, from a tarnishing standpoint, is in a dish on the bathroom counter (where I, personally, keep my daily jewelery - hence all the cleaning).  The warm moist air will cause things to tarnish up right away.

As for paste silver cleaners - suggested above, the sort of stuff your grandma used on her good silver flatware, don't waste your time with them, not appropriate for cleaning jewelry.  And toothpaste works, but what a mess and then you have to clean it all off.

I also forgot to mention the vibrating jewelry cleaner thing...you'll see them on QVC sometimes, I got one at a yard sale and if I buy a bunch of dirty jewelry I do use that sometimes.