Tips for cleaning and caring for silver jewelry
Why does jewelry tarnish?
Jewelry is made of Silver 925 - this is an alloy that consists of 925 parts Silver and 75 parts Copper. The Copper portion helps make the silver harder and more suitable for jewelry making. Pure silver would be too soft for jewelry making.
Silver reacts with the in the air contained oxygen and hydrogen sulfide, ie it "tarnishes", it oxidizes and becomes yellow to black. This is not a quality defect, but a normal chemical reaction. Cosmetics, certain skin types, medications taken, food, and even the environment can contribute to silver jewelry tarnishing faster in some people.
Matted silver - as beautiful as it is to look at - tends to tarnish more quickly because the matting makes the overall surface area of the jewelry larger and provides more surface area for oxidation.
How can jewelry be cared for?
Just like our clothes, our shoes or even our car, silver jewelry needs care and the correct application of appropriate means. But a few simple rules also help to keep silver jewelry shiny for a long time:
+ Never wear your jewelry while swimming (chlorinated water and salty seawater accelerate tarnishing), showering, bathing, in the sauna or playing sports.
+ Never store your jewelryin the bathroom, kitchen or any other damp room and in a place with direct sunlight.
+ Always rub dry and store silver jewelry airtight (preferably in a polygrip bag) in a dry, dark place (such as a nightstand drawer) after wearing! Make sure that the jewelry is dry before you put it you put them in the bag, because otherwise you achieve the opposite!
Tips for jewelry care
+ If the jewelry has nevertheless come into contact with cosmetics, sweat ,chlorinated water or salt water, clean it gently with the Sambol jewelry wash, rinse well under running Rinse well under running water and dry well. Make sure that any cavities, such as on the settings, are also dry.
+ If the jewelry has tarnished, polish it with a silver care cloth. This will remove the layer of oxidation, restore the luster and silver color visible and the surface becomes denser - the jewelry then tarnishes less quickly.
+ Dull tarnished silver jewelry cannot be cleaned with the silver polishing cloth; however, the silver immersion bath will help remove the oxidation here (Amber cleanising bath for soft stones, otherwise Silver immersion bath).
+ Make sure. your jewelry is cleaned before you put it in the immersion bath. Cleaning first removes dirt on the surface (such as sweat). The immersion bath then removes the oxidation layer. The better the jewelry was cleaned beforehand, the more intensively the immersion bath can remove the oxidation!
+ First immerse the cleaned jewelry completely under water, and then put it - as wet as the jewelry is - into the immersion bath and leave it in for a maximum of 10-20 seconds. Please observe how quickly the oxidation disappears; this usually goes very quickly!
+ Then remove the jewelry from the immersion bath and rinse very very thoroughly under running water. Make sure all remnants of the dip bath chemicals are removed - including in the settings, on the back, and in other cavities. It's better to rinse a little longer than too short!
+ Then dry the jewelry thoroughly and store in a bag.
+ Do not put jewelry with soft stones, e.g. Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli and Chrysocolla into the silver immersion bath - the amber bath is better suited for this!
+ The amber bath is a good alternative for silver jewelry with stones for which the silver immersion bath is too strong. These can be immersed for short applications (about 5 - 10 seconds) in the amber bath - here please be sure to follow the instructions for use of the amber bath! For jewelry with pearls and Mother of Pearl is also the amber bath is not suitable.
+ Wherever possible, give preference to the silver polishing cloth instead of the immersion bath, as cleaning with the polishing cloth is gentler and better for the jewelry and the environment.
+ Do not clean pearls with silver polishing cloths, as this will dull the pearls. Dirty pearls about 15 to 20 minutes in lukewarm water with a few drops of mild soap put and then with a soft cotton cloth dry. Pearls that have become dull will become shiny again with a small drop of olive oil. The mounts around the pearls can be cleaned carefully with a silver cleaning cloth or with the cleaning foam. The cleaning foam can be applied well with a cotton swab. Again, thorough rinsing and drying after the Cleaning essential. If, however, cleaning foam has come on a pearl, rinse it off immediately with plenty of water.
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