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Trade Secrets for Making Silver Jewelry Last a Lifetime
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Silver is a soft metal that requires ongoing cleaning to maintain its original luster, and proper storage to prevent scratches. Any jewelry or other item made with silver will change color over time due to a natural oxidation process with sulfides in the air. This can cause items to turn yellow, and then eventually darken to black over time.
There are several easy tricks of the trade that professional jewelers have developed to maintain the beauty of silver jewelry.
Proper Sterling Silver Storage
While it’s tempting to wear a favorite piece all the time, you should always remove your jewelry before using any type of product with chemicals or abrasives such as chlorine, bleach, ammonia, alcohol, turpentine or acetone. That includes finger nail polish, dish detergent, makeup, and even hair spray! Many of these products can permanently damage the silver as well as gemstones.
Dampness, air, and light can cause a piece to tarnish so the optimal method for storing sterling silver jewelry is in an airtight non-reactive container such as a box lined with special non-tarnish material or Mylar or polyethylene bag. Each piece of jewelry should be placed in its own bag so it does not rub up against anything which could potentially cause scratches, kinks in chains, or the damage of a gemstone.
Never place your sterling jewelry on wood surfaces as most wood contains acids which can damage the finish. Card board and paper can also speed up the tarnishing process.
Cleaning Your Silver Jewelry
The more often you clean each piece the easier it is, and the less wear and tear on your jewelry, because the tarnish is minimal which allows for safer cleaning methods.
Silver is a soft metal that can be scratched so be careful to rub gently when cleaning. Never use anything but a clean nub free cotton or flannel cloth, a special sterling silver cleaning cloth, or a very soft bristle brush like a baby’s toothbrush or a horsehair silver brush.
To remove light dirt, fingerprints or makeup just use a couple drops of mild liquid detergent (such as baby shampoo or Woolite) in a cup of warm water and rinse thoroughly with clean fresh water. Dry it completely and lightly buff with a cotton cloth. Always use a lengthwise motion when washing or drying your jewelry, as a circular motion often causes scratching.
The safest method for removing tarnish is to use a treated silver buffing cloth, but there are a number of silver spray polish or pastes that can work well for heavy cleanings if there is a large tarnish build up. To achieve the best results apply the spray or paste on the cloth and work into lather with your hand first. Tarnish in hard to reach areas can be left on to create an antique look and add definition to the jewelry. If you prefer to clean the entire piece you can have it professionally done, or use a soft bristle brush.
Sterling silver dips can be fast and easy but are not recommended by professional silversmiths and jewelers. If using a silver dip it is better to insert the item and remove it quickly, repeating after rinsing with water, rather than leaving the item in the dip for long periods of time. Follow up by buffing with a soft cotton cloth. If you leave the piece in too long, or don’t rinse it well enough with fresh water, a white residue will be left which can be difficult to remove.
Should you purchase a cleaner or dip, ensure that the product is designed for the type of jewelry item you want to clean. Dipping is not recommended for liquid silver or silver items with gemstones, and even paste or spray cleaners remove the natural luster of stones so be sure to remove any trace of cleaner residue and rinse each item thoroughly with clean water.
Additional Jewelry Cleaning Tips
Baking soda is often mentioned a cleaner but some jewelers claim that this method is to abrasive. If you wish to avoid using chemicals and want to try baking soda you should always test a small part of your silver jewelry piece first to see if leaves any noticeable marks. To use baking soda, lightly the item with clean water, the pour baking soda over the jewelry and rub gently with your fingers. Once the tarnish is removed, rinse with more clean water and dry with an all cotton cloth.
If your jewelry has been coated with a lacquer shield (to slow the tarnishing process) you should clean the item only after all of the lacquer has completely worn off. Cleaning agents can reach underneath the lacquer causing residue spotting.
Professional jewelers recommend cleaning your sterling silver jewelry as often as once per month, with a yearly professional cleaning for luxury and heirloom pieces. Cleaning gives you the chance to also check for loose stones or parts. Always have your jewelry repaired right away to prevent further damage.
Understanding the proper methods for storing and cleaning sterling silver jewelry is essential to the life of each piece.
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read comments (0)Look More Stunning by Jewelry
Author: admin
Jewelry lexically means items that are worn as ornaments. It includes necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings. You surely know about that. Yet, you might be the ones who love to wear jewelry to make yourselves look more stunning and beautiful.
If you like to wear jewelry, perhaps you want to visit International-silver.com. They are a company that sells body jewelry and more. You can see their collection in their website clearly. Yet, you are able to look for what you want simply since they make their website easy to navigate by designing some categories. Thus, you can find categories such as stainless steel jewelry, titanium jewelry, illusion jewelry, theme jewelry, and some more. You can also select and then purchase what you want by looking the products according to the types, materials, and themes.
They display their products completely along with the information you need to know. Therefore, you can see the picture of their products and at the same time you can also see the size and the price. If you are interested to buy any of their products, for example their nipple rings, it is very easy. You can simply click the sign that reads add to chart. Such an easy way to look more stunning, is not it?
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There are so many different things that you need to learn and know about when it comes to something such as jewelry making, and of the particular issues that you need to understand about is that of the different retail jewelry making components that are available for you to choose from.
About The Different Retail Jewelry Making Components
There are many different retail jewelry making components that you have to choose from, and so really, regardless of what type of jewelry you want to make, you are sure to be able to find the perfect retail jewelry making components for each piece.
The term ‘retail jewelry making components’ truly includes a number of different materials, including beads, clasps, pendants, and so on. If you already have experience in the jewelry making area, then you surely already know about this, however if you are a newcomer to the game then you are going to have to make sure that you learn as much about this and other related issues as you can.
There are many different ways that you can learn about issues such as this, and for one, you can use a resource such as the Internet in order to gain the necessary information. The Internet is great because the speed and efficiency of the Internet allows you to be able to quickly and easily find exactly whatever it is that you are looking for.
Just make sure that you take your time and have all the patience you can with a process such as this, because jewelry making is going to take some time period, and so you are going to have to be sure that you will not get annoyed or frustrated during this process.
There are so many different things that you can learn about something such as this, and so you want to make sure that you are as informed and knowledgeable on the subject overall as you possibly can be, so that you can get the best results and as well so that you can enjoy yourself as much as you can.
The Internet is one resource, but also make sure that you remember that there are many others as well, and so you really want to make sure that you use all of the available resources that you can so that you can come out with the absolute best results possible.
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