How to clean silver at home?

You can find many different ways on the Internet. For clean silver items: with soda, and detergents, and citric acid, toothpaste and others. Some of them may even seem absurd or ridiculous. For example brushing silver with lipstick or raw potatoes. But all these methods are described on the Internet and they are effective in their own way.

We will not go deep and enumerate, describing all the possible options. We will call the simplest and more working means for cleaning silver items. We will write how and what cases to apply them, and how such cleaning will affect the product. There are two types of loss of presentation of silver jewelry.
 

Ligature darkening and how to clean it

The main reason for the darkening of silver, itself is not the silver but the metals being in the alloy (copper, zinc and others), which interact with oxygen. These metals make the products dull and cloudy due to oxidation. Ways to fight:

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  Ammonia. Perhaps the most efficient and easy-to-use cleaning for small silver items . It is necessary to pour ammonia into the container such an amount the products fit there are completely. This is a cup, a scoop, plastic bottle cap and others. You need to hold your silver there for 10-15 minutes. Then you can mix and rinse the products by ammonia. Then take out and rinse in cold water.
  
  Attention! Liquid ammonia has a pungent odor, so it is advisable to open windows or use a hood.
   
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  Soda + salt + dish detergent + water. This method of cleaning silver is suitable for most people who have food at home. This method is quite simple. We take water in a dish (a bowl, a saucepan), put it on the fire, fill it with soda, salt and detergent in the following proportions: water - 0.5 litre; soda, salt and detergent, each of them half a tablespoon. Add all silver items to this solution and boil for 10 - 15 minutes, then rinse with water. Depending on the amount of silver, you can increase or decrease the amount of solution, but with the same proportions.

If these two methods did not make your products clean, then the reason for the darkening is different.
 

Darkening of silver itself

Silver belongs to the noble metals therefore practically does not lend to oxidation but unfortunately it is interacts quite well with sulfur, which is also contained in our sweat. Therefore when people are sick or exercising or just walking in the hot summer sun, the silver is darkens much faster. In this case you should first clean the product using one of the above methods, and only after:

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  Soft toothbrush. You can wipe silver items very well with a soapy soft toothbrush. You can not also use soap but dish washing detergent. Then rinse with running water.
  
   
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  White eraser. If after cleaning with the first method locally contaminated places remain, you can use a white eraser. Rub on the darkened areas until a naturally white silver color appears. If not heavily contaminated it will not take much time and effort.

 

Jewelry Tools for Silver Cleaning

There are many specialized silver cleaners available at virtually any jewelry store. Among them there are a variety of wipes treated with a special liquid, some of which add shine. There are also a variety of liquids in which products should be immersed. You can read about all these tools on the Internet resources dedicated to jewelry. But, for example, the same napkin cannot reach the middle of some chains or bracelets. But ammonia will handle it perfectly. Therefore in this case you have to combine. In general it is up to you. We have to say to you.
 

If all else fails

If no one of the above methods helped you should contact a jewelry workshop, because your silver has most likely already chemically reacted with sulfur too much. Maybe «bleached» it in washing whiteness. Jewelers use a burner to clean these items. This burning can also get rid of the production blacking.
 

Add shine to silver jewelry

Almost all of the above methods and means of cleaning do not give the products a bright shine. These methods is cleanse silver from darkening, grease, blackening. You need polishing to add shine to the product. Polishing is removes a small scratches and smooth the surface of the product so it will acquires a bright white sheen.
 

Ways to Avoid Darkening Silver

Rhodium plating is one of the most popular and reliable ways to prevent darkening of silver. Rhodium prevents silver and ligature from darkening and also protects the item from scratches and retains shine for a long time.