How To Clean Tarnished Sterling Silver

First line the bottom of your sink with aluminum foil with the shiny side up.

How to clean tarnished sterling silver. To clean lightly tarnished silver use a simple dishwashing soap solution. This tarnish begins as a slightly golden opaque covering but if left untreated it eventually turns the chain black. This method is gentle enough to use on pieces of silver that contain pearls and gemstones like jewelry. 1349 likes 1 comment. Carefully pour the hot water and baking soda mixture over the tarnished silver ensuring that the water completely covers the silver and that the metal remains in contact with the aluminum foil.

Alternatively you can use a baking soda paste to clean mild to moderately tarnished silver pieces. Exposure to air sterling silver jewelry has a greater tendency to tarnish than jewelry items made of other kinds of metals. Hydrogen sulfide gas in the air is the main cause of tarnishing and is particularly present in strong smelling pollution and foods such as eggs onions and fish. Just make sure the toothpaste is not a whitening formula and don t use this method on anything silver plated. Squirt a small amount on a paper towel and rub gently over the tarnished areas.

Warm water baking soda aluminum foil a chemical reaction that causes the silver sulfide tarnish to change back into silver freeing the sulfur atoms to migrate and attach instead to the aluminum foil. Here s what you need to do if your silver is in a similar state. A small amount of diluted toothpaste and a soft bristle brush can do wonders for cleaning sterling silver jewelry. The tarnish on sterling silver items is usually caused by contact with sulphur compounds. Sterling silver chains need to properly cleaned to maintain their luster.

Next add in as much tarnished silver as will fit and sprinkle it all with about a cup or even a bit more of baking soda. There are a few methods that you can try to clean your sterling silver. Sterling silver naturally tarnishes over time as the silver and the sulfides from humidity and air pollution interact. How to clean silver naturally. Next you ll need some really hot water.