Caring for Your Jewellery
Silver jewellery is an investment in both sentiment and money, so it's no surprise that I'm often asked how best to take care of your jewellery. Jewellery that is cared for and cleaned regularly will maintain its lustre and beauty for years to come. I like to consider jewellery as a modern heirloom that can be passed onto to generations in the years to come.
Follow these every day top tips to keep yours silver jewellery looking tip top:
- Remove your jewellery before washing, applying lotions and potions and before you go to bed
- Avoid exposure to chemicals such as household cleaning products
- Always remove jewellery before swimming - chlorine in the water reacts with silver and will quickly tarnish it
- Store jewellery separately, ensure chains are fastened to avoid them tangling with each other and separate pieces to prevent scratching
- Silver jewellery will tarnish on exposure to the air - it helps to seal it in an airtight container or little air tight bags
Cleaning your silver jewellery
It is inevitable that silver jewellery, no matter how cared for will tarnish over time - this means it will become dull or even turn black on the surface. I won't bore you with the chemistry behind it - but this is caused by exposure to gasses in the natural environment and there is no way to prevent this.
Tarnish is not a sign of damage, it is a sign of the surface of the metal reacting to natural gasses in the air.
The good news is, this can be remedied easily with some simple cleaning.
The BEST way to clean your silver
I would recommend a silver cleaning cloth, specifically formulated for jewellery, such as the Town Talk Silver Polishing Cloth - this is super soft, 100% cotton and is impregnated with anti-tarnish agents which will help maintain the lustre of your jewellery.
There are other methods to clean your silver jewellery, such as a small amount of washing up liquid on a soft tooth brush in warm water but really I'd only recommend using a cleaning cloth that has been designed for cleaning silver.
Cloths such as the Town Talk Polishing Cloths are reusable, and can be used again and again, so purchasing one now will remain an investment for the future, as you will have one available whenever your jewellery looks a little dull. They remain effective for a long time, so long as you don't wash them.