How to clean silver with stones at home to make it shine

Features when cleaning silver items with stones

The difficulty of cleaning silver with stones lies in the fact that the classical methods of care applied to the metal are often not suitable for the inserts that decorate it. Therefore, the method is selected based on the needs of the stone.

In order to clean silver jewelry, both chemical and mechanical cleaning methods are used, i.e. using abrasives, but the latter are absolutely not suitable for stones. The presence of even a small amount of fine abrasive can worsen the appearance of the main element of the decoration, and then a trip to the jewelry workshop cannot be avoided.

Jewelry with stones also react differently to dry cleaning. For some, alkali is not acceptable, others do not like acid and alcohol solutions, and some have a negative attitude towards high temperatures - for each case, an individual method of cleaning silver is selected.

Preliminary preparation

To properly clean silver with stones at home, you need to be well prepared. Depending on the task at hand, the following may be required:

tweezers;
cotton rags;
polishing cloth (flannel, suede);
toothbrush with soft bristles;
toothpicks, cotton swabs;
eraser;
soda, salt, chalk, ash, tooth powder or paste;
ammonia;
shampoo or soap;
lemon acid;
vodka or cognac.

This list is indicative and is intended for cleaning a wide range of jewelry.

There are six rules to remember when cleaning:

There is one condition for the tools used - they should not be hard or sharp, so as not to accidentally scratch the product being cleaned.
Concentrated detergents cannot be used for cleaning; only weak solutions are acceptable. They work well on small, light stains.
You should not overuse water. Many silver items use glue to fix the stones, but water is still a solvent.
If, after using weak cleaning solutions, the blackness does not come off from the silver, then stronger agents (for example, alkaline pastes) can be used. In this case, the stone inserts must first be covered, and cleaning must be done with a cotton swab and a wooden toothpick. It will take more time, but the end result is worth it.
Cleaning is done at room temperature - sudden changes can negatively affect the final result. The insert may discolor, tarnish, crack, or move in the frame as the metal expands when heated.
To make a silver product shine, it must be polished. Thus, when processed, the metal acquires a dull appearance, which can only be removed with the help of a velvety fabric.

How to clean silver from blackness

We invite you to familiarize yourself with some more methods that will allow you to efficiently clean silver at home.

Pour into the container any carbonated drink (Coca-Cola, Sprite, etc.) that contains phosphoric acid. Then you should put the silver item inside the container and boil for 10 minutes.
Take washing powder and dilute it with water until a thick mass forms. Place the silver item there and boil for 10 minutes.
Spray the silver with window cleaner and gently wipe it with a cloth.

Everyone knows that silver can darken. Sometimes there are good reasons for this, and sometimes it is blacker for nothing, even when stored and worn correctly. To quickly restore the beauty of metal, you need to know how to clean silver from blackness at home.

Toothpaste.
This is the most elementary method and accessible to everyone. Apply a little paste to a soft toothbrush and use it to clean off dirt from the silver. It is very important to use only a soft brush; if you don’t have one, you can use a cloth or napkin. To make it easier to wipe off the blackness, you can apply a paste to the silver and clean it off with a cloth after 5-10 minutes. Clean silver items are washed to remove the paste and wiped with a dry cloth. How to clean silver from blackness using foil and soda
Vinegar. This is another option to remove the blackness. To do this, heat a little table vinegar to 45 degrees and soak the silver in it. It should be soaked in vinegar for a quarter of an hour, then it can be taken out.
With foil. How to clean silver at home is of interest to all housewives. There is one very simple and interesting method. Take 15 g of soda per glass of water. A crumpled ball of foil must be placed in this liquid and placed on the stove until it boils, then silver jewelry is placed there for 60 seconds and taken out clean.
It is also easy to use baking soda to restore the shine of silver. A thick paste is mixed from soda and water. It is necessary to rub silver items with it. After 15 minutes, you can wash off the soda and admire the result.

Important!

Silver is often washed with soda, but you should understand that silver is a soft metal, grains of soda can scratch it. So it is better to use this method as little as possible.

It’s quite easy to remove blackness with ammonia and peroxide.
For a glass of water, take half a tablespoon of ammonia and peroxide. Silver is dipped into the resulting liquid for a quarter of an hour. As it oxidizes, the metal will react with ammonia and the blackness will disappear. Baking soda is also easy to restore the shine of silver
Lemon acid. Pour 250 ml of water into an enamel container and add 50 g of citric acid. This mixture must be placed in a water bath. Silver items are placed on a copper stick so that there is direct contact between copper and silver. The structure with silver is placed in liquid in a water bath for a quarter of an hour. The decorations are boiled until they lighten.
Vinegar solution. For ½ cup of boiling water, use the same amount of vinegar. Foil is placed at the bottom of a small bowl and 1 tbsp is poured on top. l. soda and salt, and then pour in a water-vinegar solution. Silver is placed in this mixture so that it is in maximum contact with the foil. In just 5 minutes, the mixture will clear silver from darkening.
Coca-Cola is used to clean various things and metal as well. The silver needs to be soaked in it for half a day, then taken out, rinsed and wiped with a cloth. After this procedure, a chain with small links, a ring, a cross, or any other decoration, including cutlery, will shine like new, and the blackness will disappear.

Silver turns black most quickly when in direct contact with sulfur. So if possible, you should avoid such a combination and use silver items carefully, then they will not turn black for a long time.

Cleaning silver with mineral semi-precious stones

Silver is an excellent setting; precious and semi-precious stones are common (diamonds are an exception). Ruby, garnet, sapphire, aquamarine, turquoise, opal, moonstone - the list goes on. The methods for cleaning silver with these stones are different, since they differ in their physical properties - density, i.e. resistance to scratches.

Quick cleaning of garnet, topaz and ruby

Pomegranate

Topaz

Ruby
Although these precious stones are highly durable, it is not recommended to subject them to unnecessary stress, especially in hot water. Therefore, they are cleaned in the following way:

Pour a small amount of cool water (15–20 C°) into a glass or other small container.
A ring or earring is tied to a thread.
Rinse in water (5–10 min).
The stone is wiped with a cotton rag or soft sponge.

If contamination cannot be removed, then a small amount of glycerin can be used.

Careful care of turquoise, malachite and opal

Turquoise

Malachite

Opal

Earrings and rings with inserts made from these materials can be cleaned with slightly alkaline solutions. To do this proceed as follows:

Prepare an aqueous solution with soap or shampoo: 5 ml of detergent per 100 ml of water.
Soak the product in soapy water for about 10 minutes.
Rinse with clean water.

Cleaning with ammonia is also allowed:

A cotton swab is moistened with ammonia.
They wipe the pebble.
Rinse with clean water.
Wipe with a soft cotton cloth.

Cleaning silver at home

Effectively combats stains on emeralds, aquamarines and sapphires

Emerald

Aquamarine

Sapphire

The Mohs hardness of these stones is more than 7, which means that fine-grained abrasives can be used for cleaning.

Tooth powder or paste is mixed with water. To reduce the risk of damaging the polishing of stones, kerosene is used instead of water.
For a ring, brooch, etc. Apply the resulting paste and rub it with a soft-bristled toothbrush.
The cleaning agent is washed off with warm water.
Wipe with a soft cloth.

Cleaning a ring with a stone

Silver jewelry is often inlaid with amber, moonstone, turquoise, malachite, pearls, coral, etc. This framing allows you to highlight the beauty of the stone. At the same time, cleaning silver earrings with stones, like other inlaid items, is a little more difficult. Special care is required to avoid damaging the stone. Some types of stones and pearls do not tolerate the use of aggressive compounds that can be used to clean silver.

To clean silver with cubic zirconia, opal, turquoise and malachite, you should use a soap solution with the addition of ammonia. Soak the decoration in this mixture for 20 minutes. Then all decorative elements of the product are wiped with an ear stick. After this, you need to rinse the product again and blot it with a napkin.

If the silver jewelry was inlaid with aquamarine, sapphire or emerald, you should wet it. After this, powder and water are mixed in a separate container in a 1:1 ratio. Using this composition, you need to carefully clean the silver parts of the product from plaque with a brush.

Cleaning silver with pearls, garnet, ruby and topaz is much more difficult, because... these stones are extremely sensitive to any influence. It is recommended to rinse the jewelry with warm, but not hot, water. You can add a little liquid soap to the composition. Then the product must be wiped with a sponge and dried with a soft cloth. If after this the stones do not shine, you can treat them with glycerin.

How to clean silver with organic stones

As for inserts of organic origin, this is a more delicate material. The porous structure of materials of this kind requires appropriate maintenance. Failure to follow the rules of care and cleaning may result in loss of the natural color of this material. Organic stones include coral, ivory, amber, precious woods and pearls.

How to clean silver earrings

The best way to clean a silver amber pendant

Soap solution in the proportion of 200 ml of water to a teaspoon of liquid soap.
The pendant is soaked for about 10–15 minutes.
Wipe the product with a soft sponge.
Wash with warm water.
Place on absorbent fabric and allow the pendant to dry.

Accelerated drying is unacceptable - radiators and convectors are contraindicated for amber.

It should be noted that ivory products are cleaned in a similar way. The difference lies in the duration of soaking - in this case the time is no more than 5 minutes.

Delicate coral cleaning

It is strictly not recommended to expose coral, as well as valuable wood, to water. The best way to clean such products is to use them carefully. The only thing allowed to maintain the appearance of products made from such materials is to treat them with a dry velvety cloth.

In this case, silver is cleaned with a cotton swab and a toothpick in any suitable way (it is recommended to use a thick soda paste).

The best way to clean silver and pearls

Pearls are capricious. Alkaline and acidic environments are contraindicated for it - from them it “grows dark”, loses its shine and attractiveness.

If the pearls are significantly soiled, they are cleaned with starch paste - thus, they are also polished:

Prepare the paste: 1 part starch, 1 part water.
Treat with a toothbrush. The soft pile of the latter is the main condition.
Wash with warm water.
Place on a cotton towel. The pearls must dry on their own.

If the original shine is lost, you can use another method:

The beads are placed in a cloth bag along with sea salt.
Rinse the pearls in a bag in warm water until the salt is completely dissolved.
Rinse with water and dry on a towel.

Salt water is the native penate and there the pearls restore their original appearance.

Special care products for silver with stones

Salt, soda, ammonia are folk remedies. The means of combating pollution do not end there. The market can offer its own options - they are also very effective and their cost is reasonable.

Among the most popular are the following industrial products:

Flurin, price 350 rubles;
Aladdin, price 250 rubles;
Adamas, price 300 rubles;
Town Talk, price 220 rubles;
Sano Silver, price 500 rub.

Flurin

Aladdin

Adamas

Town Talk

Sano Silver

How to save your cleaning results

No matter what jewelry is made from, they all require maintenance sooner or later. However, you can increase the period without cleaning, you just need to use and store your jewelry correctly. To do this, you need to know why silver darkens and how to neutralize this process.

Causes of silver contamination:

presence of metal in rooms with high humidity;
contact with saline solutions, cosmetics, household gas, etc.

If you eliminate these reasons, you won’t have to clean your jewelry often. To do this, you need to follow the recommendations:

store silver jewelry separately from gold and other jewelry;
taking a shower, visiting a swimming pool, sauna, bathhouse, etc. remove jewelry;
prevent the ingress of household chemicals, including their evaporation - when cleaning, remove precious items;
do the same when playing sports.

If you follow these simple recommendations, your jewelry will always look great and delight you with its aesthetic appearance.

How to store silver jewelry

Silver items should be stored in a box to prevent dust from falling on them. The room must be dry. If the decoration will not be used for some time, it should definitely be washed with soapy water and wrapped in foil.

It is recommended to remove silver items before taking a shower, visiting the sauna or swimming pool. If the decoration gets wet, dry it with a cloth. Items must be cleaned periodically because... even in a dry room, the oxidation process will continue.