As beautiful as silver jewelry is, it gets annoying when it turns black. This discoloration is caused by oxidation during wear and exposure to oxygen. The hydrogen sulphide contained in the air reacts with the silver and black-grey silver sulphide is formed.

Sometimes this discoloration can even look good or is intentional, because then the jewelry gets a certain patina and certain details, such as indentations in the metal, come into their own even better.

Silver bath and silver cleaner for cleaning silver jewelry

There are silver baths on the market, in which you put the silver jewelery for a few minutes and then take it out again without any deposits. However, this bathroom smells very unpleasant chemical. I also read somewhere that these cleaners also remove some of the silver jewelry, which eventually damages the jewelry.

It is then better to polish the silver jewelery with cleaning paste and a special cleaning cloth and to get rid of its unsightly discoloration.

There are also cleaners for silver jewelry that contain a substance that protects the jewelry from tarnishing or oxidizing too quickly.

Be careful with the silver cleaners, because they are poisonous, so do not store them in places that are easily accessible for children, so that they have no chance of accidentally poisoning themselves. But you should also be careful with these substances yourself. Therefore, put on gloves when cleaning and ensure good ventilation of the room.

If the silver jewelery consists not only of silver, but also of gemstones and other organic materials, you must not bring them into contact with the cleaning agent, as this can negatively affect the appearance of the stones or other materials or even destroy them.

Household remedies for cleaning silver jewelry

But silver cleaning is also easier and without chemicals. Fill a plastic container (do not use a metal container) with very hot, ideally boiling water, dissolve common table salt in it and place a large piece of aluminum foil in the container.

Then place the jewelry on the foil. Calculate about 200 grams of salt for one liter of water. Leave the jewelery in the water-salt bath until no black film can be seen. Then rinse the silver jewelery in clear water and dry it.

Or you can clean your silver jewelery with a silver cleaning sponge or household cleaning sponge. However, the jewelery should be matted, because otherwise it can be scratched, which of course is particularly unattractive on a polished jewelery surface. Always brush in one direction so that the matted surface retains its structure.