Caring for Silver Jewelry

Pure Silver, a precious and malleable metal, is usually alloyed with copper to enhance its durability and prevent damage to the metal. Typically, sterling silver consists of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper.

Over time oxidation reactions will occur, especially with sulphur and oxygen, causing silver to become tarnished. Care should be taken to prevent this tarnishing.

To avoid this tarnishing, try to avoid the following:

Applying hair colours or permanent solutions while wearing your jewellery.

Showering or swimming with your jewellery on.

Body lotions, hair spray, suntan lotions, or oils of any kind on your jewellery.

Physical Activities (Sweat).

Never removing your jewellery.

Silver does not oxidize in air. However, it does react with sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide in the air or other sulphur compounds and chloride salts, resulting in discolouration called tarnish. Tarnish is a brown discoloration caused by air pollution, cigarette smoke, some foods, furnace fumes, etc. Egg yolks, mustard, table salt, vinegar, olives, salad dressing, perspiration, rubber floor coverings, rubber bands and sulphur in some household synthetic detergents can also tarnish or affect silver. Latex paints may contain rubber and will tarnish silver.

Storage:

How do you keep it from tarnishing and becoming dull again? Provide an environment that will prevent or retard tarnish. Protect silver from sulphur by wrapping it in acid-free tissue and storing it in tarnish resistant cloth or polyethylene bags. Use caution in storing to avoid trapping moisture and do not allow the polyethylene bags to directly contact the silver. If anti-tarnish strips are used, do not allow them to touch the silver and change strips regularly (every 3 to 6 months, depending on where you live and how fast jewellery tends to tarnish) as they can re-deposit the sulphur onto silver.

Some jewellers use ordinary blackboard chalk in place of the no-tarnish strips. Add a single piece of white chalk to the drawer or cabinet where your silver is stored. White chalk is reported to prevent tarnish.

For jewellery you store on display racks or in trays or cases, place the rack and several no-tarnish strips inside a large plastic rubbish bag and close the bag up tightly with a twist-tie. Change the no-tarnish strips every 3 to 6 months. Every time I change my no-tarnish strips I write a quick note on my calendar 3 months from the date I change them, reminding myself its time to change them again!