How to Remove Tarnish from Silver Earrings
Silver earrings are versatile, elegant, and fashionable. You can wear a pair of beautiful sterling silver earrings to any occasion and match them with any outfit. However, even though silver is a great metal for jewelry, it has its ups and downs. One of the downs is that silver tarnishes. If you want to learn how to remove tarnish from silver, read further. In this article, you will discover how to clean your silver earrings and remove that nasty tarnish from them.
Why does silver tarnish?
Just like gold, silver is a soft precious metal. It looks and feels great but, unfortunately, it is too soft to make pure silver jewelry out of it. Because of that, jewelry makers mix silver with other metals creating the sterling silver alloy. This allows them to craft beautiful and resistant jewelry. The downside is that a silver alloy is also less resistant to tarnish, unlike pure silver.
Usually, a pair of silver earrings contains 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, among which you can find copper. The copper in your jewelry reacts to the moisture and sulfur in the air and creates the tarnish layer on your silver earrings. Fortunately for you, this process is reversible.
How to remove tarnish from simple silver earrings?
If your beautiful pair of silver studs has tarnished, don’t despair. First of all, you have to clean the piece of jewelry. Get a lint-free cloth and soak it in warm soapy water. Gently rub your earrings to remove dirt and skin oils. After you dry them up, use a silver polishing cloth to remove the tarnish and let your silver earrings look shiny and new again. You can achieve this with a polishing cloth if the tarnish on your earrings is mild or moderate. Always avoid exposing your sterling silver jewelry to chlorinated water or products containing bleach. We recommend storing your silver pieces in a soft, cotton bag. Our Ana Luisa pouch is great for minimizing nicks and scratches when tucking your pieces away.
How to remove tarnish from gemstone silver earrings?
Things get more complicated if you own a pair of gemstone silver earrings because you can’t use the second method of tarnish removal. Some gemstones are fragile and the water may ruin them. If your silver earrings are mildly or moderately tarnished, you can still use the soft cloth, but make sure to avoid the gemstones. But if you can see a heavy layer of tarnish on your earrings, the best way to get rid of it is to take them to the jewelry shop. They will need professional cleaning.
Can you prevent tarnish?
We get a lot of questions from people wanting to know whether they can prevent tarnish. The truth is that tarnishing is a natural process and all you can do is slow it down.
However, there are methods to slow down this process and make sure that you don’t have to use the silver polishing cloth too often.
Use an anti-tarnish bag
You can store your silver earrings in an anti-tarnish bag. This will not protect them while you are wearing them but will reduce their exposure to air when you are not. To make sure your silver jewelry is perfectly protected, put a piece of chalk in the bag as well. The chalk will absorb any moisture and keep your jewelry dry. We made our Ana Luisa pouch to be your jewelry’s best friend. Simply store your pieces inside the pouch and rest assured they’re better protected from damage.
Clean your silver earrings after you wear them
When you take off your silver jewelry, don’t forget to clean it. The oils from your skin accelerate the tarnishing process so the best way to slow it down is to remove those oils.
Beware of chemical substances
Don’t put perfume or body lotion when you are wearing your silver jewelry. Don’t take a bath with your earrings on and avoid contact between any chemical substance and your silver jewelry.
Discover tarnish-resistant silver jewelry
Tarnishing is a super common and natural process. Luckily, now you have all the tips and tricks to keep your sterling silver rings looking good as new. Shop Ana Luisa silver jewelry to spruce up your jewelry collection with stylish, sleek, and shiny silver pieces.
Unleash your inner silver siren and add some sparkle to your style with Ana Luisa's stunning silver jewelry collection!
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