Jewelry Care

How to Clean Sterling Silver Jewelry

For Light Cleanings: To remove light dirt, fingerprints or makeup just use a small amount of mild liquid detergent to a 1/2 cup of warm water and rinse thoroughly with clean fresh water. Dry it completely before storing it in an air tight zip lock bag. Then just polish it up with a soft cotton cloth. Do not use the polishing cloth on your gemstones!

For deeper cleaning sterling silver without gemstones: To clean away excessive tarnish, clean with a soft cloth and a non-abrasive brand name liquid or paste silver polish to remove tarnish. Using dip polish cleaners or pastes on sterling silver without gemstones is safe and will not harm your sterling silver.

Avoiding scratches: Rub with a lengthwise motion, never clean in a circular motion because this may cause scratches. If you want to remove the tarnish in hard to reach areas, use a very soft brush such as a toothbrush. After cleaning with a silver polish, use a clean cloth to remove any residual cleaner from your jewelry.

Baking soda and toothpaste: Using baking soda or toothpaste is controversial. The opinions are that these are abrasive. Therefore, use at your own risk. However, if you wish to use baking soda, moisten your sterling silver jewelry with water. Place in the palm of your hand and pour a liberal amount of baking soda over your jewelry and rub gently with your fingertips. Continue doing this until you remove all the tarnish. Rinse with cool water and dry.

Toothpaste is mainly recommended for gold, not silver. Use an soft toothbrush, dampen and scrub lengthwise as recommended to reduce the chance for scratches and marring the surface. Rinse in cool water. Remember that we do not recommend the use of baking soda or toothpaste methods, but many respected jewelers see no problem with it, so be cautious should you decide to try this method.

Storage: Your sterling silver jewelry is a metal that is meant to be worn but since it won't all be worn at once, the best way to store it is in a plastic zip lock bag to prevent it from tarnishing.