Refined silver jewelry, luxurious cutlery - all this often becomes real family heirlooms or just a favorite decoration. However, one way or another, over time, the appearance of silver products also changes. Their color changes, and their beauty fades, and they no longer seem as attractive as before. Is there any way to fix the situation? Many people think that cleaning silver with ammonia is an excellent solution. Is such a method really effective? Is it worth it to resort to it? This will be considered in this article.
Why does the color of silver change
Despite the fact that such a noble metal, such as silver, is resistant to various aggressive environments (for example, alkalis and organic acids), nevertheless, some substances do react with it and change the color of silver products. So, for example, hydrogen sulfide actively interacts with silver. An element such as sulfur is often an integral component of most cosmetics and many drugs. Also, the sweat of a person can affect the color of silver, namely the same sulfur that is part of it. However, in people whose health is better, silver does not darken so quickly. Why? Their sweat contains more nitrogen.
Popular Silver Cleaning Methods
A variety of substances are used to clean silver products. Among the common folk silver purification agents are the following: detergents, soda, toothpaste or paste, salt, soda, lipstick, garlic husks, eggshells, vinegar, potato broth and citric acid.
Particularly popular is the cleaning of silver products with ammonia. This is probably due to the wide availability of this tool for cleaning and the incredible convenience of the process.
There are also professional products for this purpose that ideally, efficiently and safely purify silver. As a rule, their use is considered the most preferable.
Silver cleaning with ammonia
It is important to remember that silver should never be cleaned with either hard fabrics or rough brushes that could damage or scratch the surface of the product.
Cleaning silver with ammonia in-house is an absolutely straightforward process. Everyone can cope with it successfully. Despite the fact that this method is considered one of the most effective, it is contraindicated for gilded silver and jewelry in which pearls are encrusted. Also, with caution, you should use this method in relation to jewelry with stone inserts.
There are several different ways that demonstrate how to clean silver with ammonia. You need to familiarize yourself with each of them, assess the potential risks and choose a suitable recipe for yourself.
Jewelry and Cutlery
This method is the simplest. Cleaning silver with ammonia (ten percent) is as follows. You just need to soak the silver in alcohol for a short time (no more than ten minutes), and then you need to thoroughly rinse with water, carefully dry and polish to a shine.
Ammonia and tooth powder
This method will be ideal for cleaning silverware. Cleaning silver at home with ammonia and tooth powder has gained its popularity due to the unusual shine that the product acquires due to the correct cleaning process. The working solution should consist of five parts of water, two parts of ammonia and one part of tooth powder. Practice shows that such a proportion is the most effective. In this solution, dampen the cloth and wipe the product thoroughly. After that, the silver should be washed with water and wiped dry with a soft, clean cloth.
Cleaning with ammonia and laundry soap
This method will require a little more time and patience. At the first stage, it is necessary to make a solution (using warm water and laundry soap, although, however, a toilet is also suitable). In this solution, silver products should be soaked for some time (about twenty minutes). Then they should be thoroughly washed with running water and wiped dry. At the second stage, it is necessary to mix ammonia and crushed chalk to a homogeneous consistency. The resulting slurry must be applied to silver and wait for it to solidify. After that, the product must be washed with water and polished with a soft cloth (preferably suede).
Other popular remedies
There are less popular recipes, such as cleaning silver with ammonia and a detergent. Nevertheless, no one undertakes to dispute the effectiveness of such a method of silver purification.
However, practice shows that not only cleaning silver with ammonia can bring a good result. There are a number of other popular silver cleaning methods. For example, cleaning with citric acid. To do this, you need to prepare a solution consisting of one part of citric acid and five parts of water, and then bring this solution to a boil. Silver should be placed in a boiling solution and boiled for fifteen to thirty minutes. This method will be ideal for cleaning silver appliances, as well as silver utensils.
It is very easy to clean silverware with vinegar. To do this, it needs to be slightly warmed up, and silver is placed in this warm solution . After just ten to fifteen minutes, it can be removed from the vinegar and wiped with a soft cloth (if it is more difficult to clean, use a soft brush).
A more aggressive way of cleaning is with a mix of soda and salt. One part of these components should be mixed with two parts of water. In this solution, you need to leave the solution for a period of half an hour. After this, you should manually clean the product with a soft cloth or a toothbrush.
Original methods
An extraordinary recipe is a strong decoction of garlic husk. In this solution, brought to a boil, silver should be boiled. The time that silver will spend in the solution will directly depend on the degree of contamination of the products.
Some also clean silver with even less traditional methods, such as peeling with Coca-Cola, potato peelings, egg water, and even sulfuric acid. Use these methods at your own risk. However, it is important to remember that after using any cleaning agent, silver items must be thoroughly rinsed with water.
Conclusion
It is important to remember that everyone chooses the choice of silver cleaning method at their own peril and risk. Therefore, you must be sure that the selected method does not harm your favorite jewelry. That is why you should carefully examine the above information and choose the silver purifier for yourself wisely. Regardless of whether it will be cleaning silver with ammonia and peroxide or ammonia and household soap, or maybe some of the popular methods (for example, cleaning with vinegar, tooth powder or citric acid), the result will be better if the proportions are carefully observed working solutions and cleaning technology.
For the most part, the methods described in this article are completely safe for silver. The main thing is to correctly follow the instructions and not neglect simple, but effective tips. In this case, cleaning silver with ammonia will become effective and will bring excellent results.