5 ways to clean your jewelry

What should you do to clean your tarnished jewelry and why do they tarnish in the first place? Jewelry cleaning can be done easily and safely at home!

At www.emmanuela.gr we emphasize quality craftsmanship and high aesthetics, and all our creations are made with 925 silver and precious metals. Nevertheless, since all jewelry is beautiful, we will give you advice on how to clean your costume jewelry and keep it beautiful, whether it is "real" or "fake"!

The "tarnishing" of silver jewelry

Silver jewelry is not significantly affected by external factors except that it "tarnishes" from time to time—when it is not rhodium-plated or gold-plated—forming stains, which at an early stage can be removed very easily with a soft cloth and a little rubbing. If our silver jewelry has "tarnished" a lot, we use a liquid cleaner for silver items, one of those widely available on the market. The "tarnishing" is due to surface oxidation caused by the contact of silver with the sulfur present in the air of the atmosphere.

We must be very careful when using liquids for polishing, as it is possible that other elements of our jewelry, such as semi-precious stones, corals, and pearls, may lose their color.
We carefully clean only the silver surfaces with a soft cotton cloth, which we have first moistened with the cleaning liquid. We rub with horizontal or vertical movements and not circular ones.

Below are tips to clean your jewelry!

Toothpaste? Probably not…

The well-known advice that to polish silver well we use toothpaste is not so wise, since toothpastes contain abrasive agents which ultimately cause faster "tarnishing." For this reason, this polishing practice is not recommended.

The "rules" of silver...

Like all jewelry, for silver to always remain bright and beautiful like new, we must follow some rules:

• Never wear it when we are sweaty, swimming, exercising, or doing heavy manual work, as the chlorine in the pool, moisture, and salts from sweat are enemies of silver, while silver can easily be scratched by small knocks and deformed by pressure.

• We make sure to apply first the grooming products we use (makeup, perfume, hairspray, creams, etc.) and then wear our silver jewelry. Silver should not come into contact with the chemicals and acids contained in these products.

• It is good to clean our silver jewelry with a soft cotton cloth after each use. Even better to wash them with lukewarm water and a little soap. After drying them well with careful wiping, we store them separately from our other jewelry. This way we remove the corrosive agents that adhere to them.

• We store them in airtight plastic bags, preferably those that "seal" and isolate the contents, preventing contact with air.

• We place them separately from other jewelry or hard objects that might scratch the silver surface.

• We keep them in a place not exposed to light.

Finally, special strips or fabrics with anti-corrosive action for silver are available on the market. We can place them where we store our jewelry to protect them from corrosion, long-term and more effectively.