Cleaning silver jewelry

Silver can tarnish or tarnish over time, a process called oxidation. This is a natural process in silver jewelry. Fortunately, silver jewelry is easy to clean.

The silver cleaning cloth

Polishing silver can be done in different ways. One option is to polish your silver with a silver cleaning cloth. Although this is not always the easiest method because you have to rub hard, it does provide a nice result. Make sure that the cloth does not go into the washing machine, otherwise it will lose its effectiveness. Of course you can also go to a jeweler for maintenance, which we recommend because it will keep your jewelry beautiful for longer.

Cleaning black silver

Silver can oxidize, which is a natural process resulting from a chemical reaction between dust and oxygen. This oxidation can be caused by various factors, such as cosmetics, hair spray or perfume. Even the acidity of your skin can play a role in this, which is influenced by various factors such as diet, medications, alcohol and sweat. This can eventually cause the silver to turn black.

If this happens, we use a silver bath specially developed for keeping oxidized jewelry clean.

A silver polish immersion bath is something you can do yourself at home, but we also offer this in our store. The immersion bath cleans your silver jewelry without damaging it and restores its shine and clarity. The cleaning works quickly.

The plunge pool has a small basket in which you can place your silver jewelry. Then briefly immerse this basket in the bath. Turn the basket around and let it stand for about 2 minutes. If your silver jewelry is very dirty, you can use a sponge soaked in the product. Then rinse the silver jewelry with warm water and dry with a soft cloth.

Cleaning silver with Dreft

Please note: Silver jewelry with stones in it should not be cleaned with this method. The stones may not be able to withstand the cleaning agent well and may break or become dull. This is not desirable.

Before you actually clean the silver jewelry, first degrease the jewelry. You can do this with Dreft, although other dishwashing liquid can also be used. Dreft is known as a strong degreasing agent. Then make a bath of lukewarm water with one teaspoon of Dreft and one teaspoon of baking soda. Then let the silver jewelry soak in this bath for a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 minutes.

After soaking, you can carefully brush the silver jewelry with a toothbrush. Make sure the toothbrush is not too hard to avoid scratching the jewelry. Rinse the silver jewelry and then dry it with a clean cloth.

Polish silver with soda

It is possible to polish silver with soda, but be careful: do not do this with jewelry with gemstones and also avoid jewelry with dark parts in this bath, because the gemstones can be affected and the dark parts can become lighter.

Start by degreasing the jewelry. Then fill a container with hot water and place a sheet of aluminum on the bottom with the matte side facing up. Sprinkle some baking soda over the aluminum and stir until the lumps have dissolved. Then place the silver in the bath, making sure that the silver touches the aluminum. Leave the silver in the bath for about fifteen minutes.

Then rinse the silver jewelry with cold water and dry it with a smooth, clean cloth. Don't be surprised by the sulfur smell, this is normal.

Polish silver jewelry with silver polish

If you want to make your silver jewelry shiny again, it is best to use silver polish. This is the best-known way to clean silver and is used in combination with a polishing cloth.

To clean the silver, apply the silver polish to a soft, clean cloth. The original and most famous brand is Silvo. Rub this over the silver and let it work for a few minutes. Then use another part of the cloth to polish the silver jewelry. Then rinse the jewelry under a cold tap. With a microfiber cloth you can thoroughly clean the silver and create a beautiful shine at the same time.

Polishing silver at the jeweler in Zeeland

If you can't figure it out yourself, it is also possible to have silver jewelry cleaned at the jeweler in Zeeland. If you leave the jewelry with us in the store, we can polish it for you if necessary.

We polish your jewelry using a polishing machine, making the silver shiny again. Other antique silverware and silver cutlery can also be repolished, making them look like new again and regain their shine.

Polishing silver takes a lot of practice and time. Polishing silver cutlery is tough and also takes a lot of time. We start by sanding the silver with the finest sandpaper to remove file marks, possibly unwanted engravings and deep scratches. Then polishing takes place using various polishing wheels and polishing pastes, starting with a coarse wheel and gradually moving to finer wheels with high-gloss paste.

As soon as the jewelry is completely clean again, we will contact you and you can pick up the jewelry at any time.