Sterling Silver Ring with Opal and Amethyst
Silver is a natural metal that looks beautiful in jewelry, but like any natural metal it can become tarnished or dirty, especially if there are chemicals in the air. After a certain amount of time, any silver jewelry can become tarnished. However, this does not mean that the silver jewelry you bought is defective. To make sure your silver jewelry stays perfect, always read the manufacturer’s instructions if you have them or take it to a professional. Valuable silver items must be taken care of carefully, whether you bought them new or at our Eureka pawn shop.
There are also some preventive steps you can take to prevent your silver jewelry from getting tarnished. Cleaning your silver regularly is one way to keep that shine spotless. In Eureka CA, jewelry has to put up with the salt in the air, which can hasten the tarnishing and makes regular polishing beneficial. Be careful that when you are wearing it, you do not expose it to household chemicals, perfumes, cosmetics, etc.
The best way to prevent it from getting tarnished when you aren’t wearing it is to keep it in a cool and dry place. You can also minimize the tarnishing of silver jewelry by keeping it in small individual felt bags or in separate compartments of a jewelry box. This will also prevent other types of jewelry, including gold jewelry from being scratched.
For general cleaning, a silver polishing cloth is recommended and this can be found in most jewelry stores. It is also very easy to get your tarnished silver back to normal. You can clean your mildly tarnished silver at home with silver dips, but be careful if there are other elements in your jewelry besides silver — certain jewelry cleaners will have negative effects on gemstones and other metals. Also, remember not to leave the jewelry in the dip for a long period of time and don’t rinse it off with cold water.
Cleaning your silver jewelry with toothpaste and a regular toothbrush is not a good idea, as it will scratch the silver. Use of soap to clean the silver can work for heavily soiled jewelry, but too much may also make the silver look dull (especially if the soap is abrasive). After cleaning with any commercial polish, you must rinse the silver in water and polish it dry with soft cloth. Be sure to remove all of the polish before wearing or putting in storage.
If you do not want to worry about cleaning silver jewelry yourself, you can always take it to the professionals. Taking your silver jewelry to the jewelers once a year is a good investment to keep your silver jewelry looking good. However, if you are too busy for that during the week, we are a pawn shop open in Eureka on Sundays.
