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Whilst silver is a metal, it needs a little care and attention to keep it looking at as good as when you first received it. When looked after properly, silver has a luxurious lustre but without proper maintenance, it tarnishes as the silver reacts with the sulphur and other pollution in the air and discolors the surface. The greater the pollution in the air, the greater the tarnish so you need to take a little extra care if you live in a city.
This need not spoil your enjoyment of your jewellery, however, because with a few simple steps, all your jewellery can be as good as new and just as beautiful as when you first bought it.
Firstly, prevention is better than a cure. When storing your silver jewelry, try and keep it out of the air as much as possible and make sure it’s dry – possibly in a press sealable plastic bag – as humidity can speed up the tarnishing process.
To keep that nice, rich shine use a soft cotton cloth or a jewelry cloth to polish and buff your jewelry. Just a few seconds can achieve a lot but if there’s a lot of tarnish or your piece has hard to reach places (such as a chain or necklace where it’s difficult to get in between the links) it may be necessary to use a dip. Each brand differs slightly so always read the directions but, generally, you submerse your piece of silver for 10 seconds and immediately on taking it out, wash with cold, running water and dry and buff with a jewellers or cotton cloth. Don’t leave your piece of jewelry in the dip for too long – it can lave a residue and, also, don’t use with gemstones as this can damage them.
Lastly, while silver is fairly hardy there are certain chemicals that can damage it such as immersing it in chlorine (such as swimming pool water), salt water and sun tan lotion. Also be careful of household cleaners; all of these can harm the shine of your silver jewelry.
So, with a little time you can prolong the life of your jewelry and your necklaces, bracelets, earrings will look beautiful for many years to come. |
