How to clean sterling silver, and keep it from tarnishing
Sterling silver darkens because of what is in the air, not because it isn't real. Here is how to take tarnish off without overdoing it, and how to store silver so there is less of it to take off.
In this guide
Every piece of sterling silver darkens eventually. A chain that was bright when it arrived turns faintly yellow, then brown, and a ring left in a damp drawer can come out much darker. That isn't a fault, and it doesn't mean the silver is fake. It is what silver does in ordinary air, and most of it can be undone at home.
Much of our jewellery is 925 sterling silver, and each of those pieces says so on its product page. This is the care note we would want to read before buying one.
What tarnish is
Tarnish is a very thin film of silver sulphide. It forms when silver reacts with sulphur-containing gases in the air, the most common of which is hydrogen sulphide, the gas a hard-boiled egg gives off. The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), which advises museums on looking after silver, notes that tarnish on sterling also contains copper sulphide, because sterling is not pure silver.
The colour tells you how thick the film is. CCI describes it moving from yellow through red-brown to blue as it builds, and turning black once it is thicker than about 100 nanometres. A yellow tinge is a thin layer. Black is a thick one, and since CCI notes that polish removes some silver along with the tarnish, catching it early means less polishing.
What speeds it up
Moisture and sulphur. CCI says silver tarnishes faster as the humidity climbs, and is best kept below 50% relative humidity. Its list of everyday sources of sulphur gases includes:
- wool and wool felt
- rubber bands, rubber and latex gloves, and other vulcanised rubber
- some foods, eggs among them
- some paints, and protein-based glues
So a bathroom, where the air is damp after every shower, is a poor place to keep silver, and a rubber band around a bundle of chains, or a box lined with wool felt, is making it worse.
Know what you are cleaning
Check what a piece is made of before you clean it. Plain sterling, like the Sterling Silver Stud Earrings (a round bead in 2, 3, 4 or 5mm), can take every step below. The Sterling Silver Anklet is listed as 925 sterling silver too, but its page also mentions charm accents without saying what they are made of, so start gently and check the accents before you polish.
A piece that is silver plus something else has to be cleaned with its most delicate part in mind. That covers the red heart on the Heart Pendant Necklace (its page doesn't say what the heart is made of), the zirconia on the 925 Sterling Silver Ring with the cross design, and anything with pearls. Use the polishing cloth on the metal only, and keep the chalk paste off pearls, stones and the heart altogether.
Plated silver, like the Rose Gold Cable Chain Necklace, is a third case. Stop at step 2 on it. CCI says polishes remove silver and tarnish from the surface of an object, so on a plated piece the polishing cloth and the chalk paste in steps 3 and 4 would be wearing away the plating.
Cleaning, gentlest first
Start with the least you can do and stop as soon as it works. The later steps use abrasive, so there is no reason to start there.
- A soft, dry cloth after each wear. The care note on every product page here says the same. CCI points out that the salts and oils on skin can mark silver and leave fingerprints, and a wipe before you put it away deals with them.
- Warm water and a gentle detergent for grime, sunscreen or sand. CCI's note describes washing silver with a detergent solution, rinsing it, and drying it with a soft cloth or warm air. Dry it properly, chain links included. Damp silver is exactly what you don't want to put away.
- A silver polishing cloth for tarnish a wipe won't move. CCI calls these gentle: the cloth is impregnated with an abrasive, but at a lower concentration than a liquid, paste or foam polish. Rub the dark areas and move to a clean part of the cloth as it blackens.
- A paste of precipitated chalk and water for heavy, black tarnish. CCI describes a home-made polish: a small amount of precipitated calcium carbonate (precipitated chalk) mixed with water into a thick paste. It stresses precipitated chalk, not ground chalk or whiting, because the larger particles of ground chalk leave a coarser scratch pattern. Rinse every trace off afterwards and dry the piece. It is the most work of the four, so keep it for plain silver that needs it.
What to skip
- All-purpose metal polish. CCI says not to use general, multi-purpose metal polishes on silver, because they are more abrasive.
- Silver dips, on anything with a stone or a pearl. Dips work by dissolving the tarnish faster than they dissolve the silver, and CCI notes they can leave a yellow discolouration. It also says soaking in soapy water or a dip is not appropriate for composite objects, meaning silver combined with other materials. CCI's examples are objects like teapots with ivory handles. A ring with a stone or a pearl is the same problem on a smaller scale, so keep dips away from it.
Pearls and stones
For pearls, GIA's care guide is specific. Wipe them with a very soft, clean cloth after each wear. Pearls can be damaged by many chemicals and all acids, and GIA's list includes hairspray, perfume, cosmetics and even perspiration. Warm soapy water is fine for an occasional thorough clean. An ultrasonic or steam cleaner never is. If the pearls are strung, the string has to be completely dry before you wear them again.
That applies to the Rice Pearl Choker, which is freshwater rice pearls on a 925 sterling silver chain, and to the Freshwater Pearl Stud Earrings on their 925 posts. Keep the polishing cloth and the chalk paste off the pearls.
For stone-set pieces, CCI advises against submerging composite objects in soapy water, so use a soft brush dipped in warm soapy water around the setting rather than soaking the piece, dry it thoroughly, keep the polishing cloth to the metal and skip the chalk paste.
When to take it off
The care note on our product pages says to keep jewellery away from perfume, hairspray and chlorine, and our FAQ adds taking it off before showering, swimming and sleeping. That goes for anklets too: take one off before the pool or the beach, as you would any other piece.
The easiest way to keep perfume and hairspray off it is order: jewellery goes on last, after perfume, hairspray and make-up, and comes off first.
Storing silver so it tarnishes slowly
The less tarnish forms, the less there is to clean off. CCI's advice is to put each silver object in its own polyethylene bag and seal it, with tape, heat or a self-sealing closure. For jewellery, that is a small zip-lock bag per piece.
- One piece per bag, so chains can't tangle and a stone can't scratch the silver next to it.
- Somewhere dry: not the bathroom, and not a windowsill that fogs up.
- Away from wool, felt and rubber bands, from CCI's list above.
- Pieces you wear every day can live somewhere handier. Wipe them after wearing and polish them when they need it.
The care note on each product page says to store a piece in the pouch it arrives in. It doesn't say what the pouch is made of. The Mini Jewelry Storage Box is PU leather, in pink, black, white or khaki, and its page doesn't describe the inside of the box or say whether it slows tarnish. So for silver, bag each piece first, whether it then goes in the pouch or the box.
None of this makes sterling tarnish-proof. It makes tarnish slower, and it keeps the cleaning at the cloth stage rather than the paste stage.
