How to care for your jewellery.
So, you’ve acquired some lovely jewellery and now you need to know how to care for it so that it keeps its good looks.
Sterling silver will tarnish if exposed to the air, so don’t leave it out when it’s not being worn. Keep it in a box or even better, in a bag in a box! A food storage or freezer bag, while hardly elegant (but no one will know if it’s inside a box) is good for this as you can press most of the air out of it before zipping it closed.
The golden rule for jewellery is to put it on last and take it off first.
Don’t swim wearing it or apply perfume after you put it on, and always keep it away from harsh chemicals.
You will, of course, inevitably expose your sterling silver to the air when wearing it and it will eventually need cleaning - here are several ways to do this.
You could use a proprietary silver cleaner, but this cleans by abrading the surface of your silver, so I don’t really recommend it. Even a silver cloth is slightly abrasive. Instead I recommend you use an old, soft toothbrush with warm soapy water or a dab of toothpaste on a brush head to scrub the silver.
Below is the method I would most recommend which is highly suitable for items made entirely of silver, however don’t use it if your piece incorporates stones.
This abstract piece is one that I wear frequently, and as you can see, it’s pretty dirty and tarnished (I know, cobbler’s child and all that …)!
Step 1. Line the saucepan with a piece of foil, shiny side up and sprinkle a heaped teaspoon of bicarb over it, then place the item to be cleaned on top of it, making sure it is in contact with the bicarb, boil some water in the kettle.
Step 2. When the kettle boils, pour the water into the saucepan, covering the item. This triggers a foaming reaction between the bicarb and the foil, as shown in the next photo. You might be able to see that miraculously the dirt and tarnish is disappearing from the piece of jewellery. This happens pretty much instantaneously
Step 3. All you need to do now is lift the piece out of the saucepan using tongs or a couple of spoons – the water’s hot!. Rinse and dry.
Hey presto! A beautifully clean and sparkly piece ready to be worn!
Oh, don’t forget to throw the foil in your recycling bin - the dirt from the item cleaned has now transferred to it, so please don’t use it to wrap your sandwiches!
