Silver objects and jewelry will surely darken after a while. And the question is how to help silver shine with renewed vigor? How to clean silver? What is better to use so as not to spoil your favorite jewelry? Let's try to clean your jewelry or silverware using old and proven recipes. These methods have been tested and established themselves as the most effective.
Proper preparation is the key to success
Before cleaning silver at home, you must prepare the product. To do this, a silver item (cross, ring, chain) needs to be washed in warm water with the addition of any shower gel. You can use ordinary solid soap - it does not matter. At this stage, it is important to remove biological contamination. Sweat and sebum cover the wearables with the thinnest film. Favorite ring with carved curls and stones is better to clean with a toothbrush. The movements must be careful and accurate. Wash, thus, the product, it is rinsed well in cold clean water. Then, using clean, dry material, we remove the remaining water from the surface. For this, ordinary paper towels are also suitable. You can use a clean handkerchief, it is quite thin and is able to absorb a lot of moisture.
Now consider the most famous and proven methods of cleaning silver.
Soda
Cleaning with baking soda. Pour some powder onto a flat saucer. Now wet a clean rag or toothbrush in water. Dip a wet brush into soda crystals. And a certain amount of soda sticks to it. Soda dampens from a wet brush and soda gruel appears on it. This gruel is what we need. We take it and clean the ring or pendant. Gently rub the product until the dark coating is removed. After completing the cleaning procedure, be sure to rinse the product in cold water and dry it with a cloth.
Caution - Vinegar
The following method will tell you how to clean silver with vinegar. Vinegar is usually found in any household. Look in your kitchen cupboard as well. Before cleaning silver at home in this way, you need to check your vinegar. Attention! Be careful! Read the inscription on the label, it should say that the composition in the bottle is table vinegar, but not vinegar essence! As a rule, essence is a more concentrated remedy and can cause irreparable harm to your favorite product. So, you are convinced that you have vinegar. Now proceed to the procedure. Pour approximately 100 milliliters of liquid into a ceramic or glass bowl. Fasten your jewelry on a thick thread and use this thread to lower the product into the solution. After an hour, you can get a silver item by simply pulling it out of vinegar by a string. Rinse the silver in clean cold water and, after drying, continue to use.
Citric Acid
Cleaning silver with citric acid is an excellent solution to blacken and shine your silverware. Dilute 100 grams of citric acid powder in half a liter of pure water. Find a piece of copper wire. Now you can start the magic! Pour white acidic powder into the water and mix well to dissolve. Boil this solution and, as soon as you see small bubbles from boiling, lower the wire into the dishes. Now carefully put the cutlery in the resulting liquid and turn off the fire. After 20 minutes, you will need to get the silver out of the water and rinse it. First rinse in moderately warm water, and the second in cool water. For a beautiful shine, silver appliances must be wiped and thoroughly polished using a soft cloth.
Hydrogen peroxide
A fairly common method is the purification of silver with hydrogen peroxide. Shower gel, peroxide and alcohol must be mixed in a ceramic or glass container. Take everything in the same proportions. Now you need to add clean cold water and, having mixed, place a silver product in the liquid. After 15-35 minutes, silver should be removed from the cleaning solution and washed in cold water. Do not forget about drying the product. So it will not have dark spots after cleaning.
Important
Attention! If you chose this method of cleaning, we recommend that you check the effect of the solution on a small area of the product. To do this, dip a cotton swab into the solution obtained on the basis of peroxide and rub it with silver. If there is no darkening and everything suits you, then proceed with cleaning.
Product with stones
Do you have a gorgeous silver jewelry that has stones and needs to be cleaned? To clean silver with stones at home, you need exclusively gentle methods. And a solution for this purpose also needs a gentle and harmless. To prepare it, you need to stir a quarter of a piece of solid soap in a glass of water. Before stirring, wipe the soap through a fine grater. Then add three to four drops of 10% ammonia. Bring the resulting solution to a boil. But do not try to boil it! Do not forget that ammonia can cause damage to health when misused. Bringing the mixture to a boil, moisten a brush (you can use a toothbrush) in it and carefully clean your product. Then, if necessary, you can dip a cotton swab into the solution to clean smaller and winding areas. And if your favorite ring has a very fine engraving, use a wooden toothpick in the same way.
About the stones
If your silver items are decorated with natural stones, then cleaning at home will only harm them. Therefore, such things are best left to professionals. Each natural stone has its own characteristics:
- Amber, pearls and coral will not be able to withstand the presence of ammonia and ammonia.
- Turquoise should be away from water. Never immerse this stone in a humid environment.
- Pearl inserts in products are washed in a delicate soap solution.
- Amethyst can tolerate the effects of alkali and acids of low concentration. The same can be said about topaz. But both of these stones will necessarily fade under the influence of hot water.
- Quartz and cubic zirconias are perhaps the most unthinkable stones. They will well tolerate washing in soapy water.
And tooth powder
The next way is to clean the table and other silver using tooth powder. Before you clean silver at home in this way, make sure you have a tooth powder in your home. The principle is that a little of this product is poured onto a damp cloth and the product itself is wiped. You need to rub until the dark coating does not give up their positions and recedes.
Toothpaste
By the way, if a slip came out with the powder, and it is not in your bathroom, replace it with toothpaste. Squeeze a little toothpaste onto the old toothbrush and, having moistened it under a stream of cold water, start cleaning. Rinse and wipe the product.
Salt solution
In a glass of water you need to take a dessert spoon of pure salt. Stir the salt in the water and immerse the silverware in this water. And if you need to speed up the process, then boil the solution together with chains and rings from five to ten minutes. Remove items from hot salt concentrate and rinse. We rinse the rings first in warm water and at the end of the process, rinse them in cold water.
"Coca Cola"
Do you like sparkling water? Especially if it's Coca-Cola? Then leave a glass of this wonderful remedy. Tie your jewelry and dip them into the drink. After 20 minutes, you will again have shiny silver items. Remember to rinse them in cold water.
Silver blackened
Do not forget that there is also blackened silver. If your product originally had a dark appearance, most likely it has a special patina. It is to her that your jewelry owes its noble appearance and charm. Of course, this silver is also cleaned, but it is better to carry out such a procedure using special solutions for cleaning silver jewelry. A jar of such a tool is not very expensive and grabs it for a long period. To clean ordinary silver, you can also use a special tool in this direction. Typically, these solutions are available at jewelry stores. Just ask a consultant and he will direct you on the right track. And then you will no longer be bothered by the question of how to clean silver at home.