How to effectively clean silver at home

Tags:With your own hands

The capriciousness of silver is known to those who have dishes and jewelry made of this metal in their homes. Over time, a dark coating appears imperceptibly on the products and the shine disappears. homemaster.techinfus.com/en/ invites you not to postpone an important matter: we offer you a number of valuable information, thanks to which cleaning silver at home will become an effective and uncomplicated process.

It's not worth hiding the beauty of metal under a layer of dark coating

General rules for cleaning silver: what you can, you need and cannot

Seeing the contamination of the metal, do not panic. Everything is fixable and not so difficult: first of all, they study the recommended cleaning agent and how to work with it - the product can be damaged.

If the jewelry is very valuable, but there is no self-confidence, then you should turn to the services of professionals

The first step is to study the silver sample, which will indicate the amount of pure metal in the product. Based on what you see, the choice of the cleaning agent is made.

Dishes, as a rule, are made from a lower sample, so soda and acids are calmly used for cleaning.

It is more difficult to clean an item with a fineness of 960: here it is recommended to contact a jewelry workshop.

If the jewelry contains an insert made of another metal or pebble, then, accordingly, the cleaning process takes place somewhat differently than when cleaning a simple object.

During work they are guided by time. If you rush and wash off the product ahead of time, there will be no effect. If you exceed the allotted time for acid exposure, it is easy to provoke a corrosion process.

Important! Abrasive components are not permitted in cleaners with high silver fineness. This will damage the decoration surface. These ingredients include salt, tooth powder, and kitchen cleaners.

All work is carried out with gloves with open windows.

What can be said about folk methods of cleaning silver

People do not always turn to professional industrial tools, because before their mass appearance, they had to clean their jewelry with the help of improvised means.

Solution: hydrogen peroxide, water and ammonia

To prepare the working solution, take equal amounts of hydrogen peroxide (the more concentrated, the better), water and ammonia. Decorations are added to the resulting mixture and boiled for 10 minutes.

If doubts arise, first apply a block, before boiling, the agent on a small area of the jewel: if the item is of high quality, then no negative reactions will follow

Ammonia

The composition of one part of ammonia and ten parts of water cleans well the surface of silver jewelry from blackness.

As soon as the people do not use ammonia!

In case of severe darkening and loss of gloss, the object is not in a hurry to be removed from the solution, but left for 15-60 minutes. The clarification process should be checked regularly.

Another option for using ammonia: add 30 ml of a ten percent ammonia solution and a tablespoon of baby shampoo to 100 ml of water. The decoration is kept in this solution for 2 hours.

Boiling

For cleaning by boiling, you need to take a glass of water, a tablespoon of salt and the same amount of baking soda.

Line the bottom of the pot with baking foil, into which the solution is poured. The jewelry is immersed in liquid and boiled for 10 minutes. The products are taken out, wiped dry and polished with a soft cloth.

You will need foil. It is purchased in baking departments immediately in rolls

You will need foil. It is purchased in the “everything for baking” departments immediately in rolls

A potent solution is also made from a teaspoon of salt and a glass of water.

You can use a solution without soda. Jewelry is boiled in it for 15 minutes and then polished with a soft wool or cotton cloth.

Dentifrice

For jewelry below 960 fineness, white tooth powder can be used. The product is moistened with water and well sprinkled with tooth powder.

Tooth powder costs a penny. They buy the product both in stores and in pharmacies

Now you need not to miss the moment when the powder dries - the product begins to be sanded with a cloth with a pile until shine appears.

Coca Cola

For this method, you need to take a 2L bottle of Coca-Cola and pour it into a saucepan.

Coca-Cola also began to be in demand not only for food purposes

Contaminated silver objects are put into the liquid and they begin to boil for 5-10 minutes. Then everything is taken out and polished with a cloth.

Table vinegar

Vinegar (by no means an essence) is heated, but not brought to a boil.

Silver may be capricious, but it still lends itself well to cleaning by folk methods

Objects are dipped in warm vinegar and left in it for 20 minutes. Then everything is taken out, dried and polished with a cloth.

Lipstick

Not everyone knows that you can clean your favorite ring without a stone or a bracelet with lipstick.

Hygienic lipstick is not suitable for such a purpose, only regular color

The decoration should be uniform, in which case you can expect success. Apply the lipstick in a thick layer and leave it alone for 15 minutes. After that you just need to remove the greasy layer with a soft woolen cloth and polish the product.

We clean silver by industrial means

Among the preparations that are sold for home cleaning of silver jewelry, there are solutions, creams, pastes and wipes.

Solutions

The solutions are often sold as a unitized kit with a liquid, a container, a sieve basket for dipping jewelry, foam and wipes for sanding and coating with a protective layer.

The solutions contain organic solvents, PVA, phosphates

The solutions do not clean products encrusted with amber, corals or pearls.

The precious object is immersed in a container with the composition and left for the time indicated on the package

Talisman 50 ml removes darkening and restores shine

Creams and pastes

Creams and pastes help to deal with old black plaque with a bang without leaving home.

The cleaning products have a rather delicate texture, which will not only cope with dirt efficiently, but also will not scratch the surface of objects.

First, the jewelry is washed in soapy water for degreasing, and only then they start working with paste or cream

The purchased composition is applied to a napkin and the previously degreased decoration is rubbed. After that, they do not rush to wash the applied product from the surface, but leave it for the time stated by the manufacturers as recommended. Then use a dry cloth to polish the item.

Silberpflege Centralin with polish and silicone is able to form a film - such a layer will prevent the rapid tarnishing of the product in the future

Silberpflege Centralin with polish and silicone is capable of forming a film - such a layer will prevent the rapid tarnishing of the product in the future

Napkins

If the darkening has not reached a critical level, the product has not yet completely lost its luster, then you can purchase specialized microfiber napkins. They are impregnated with a ready-made composition for cleaning silver objects.

The composition with which the napkins are impregnated is not aggressive and will not spoil the metal surface

Centralin cotton napkin cleans gold and silver

The better to clean silver, depending on the type of product

If we are talking about silver items inlaid with stones, enamel, blackening, gilding, or just a beautiful chain, you should get acquainted with the nuances of cleaning such precious things.

Products with stone

Jewelry with precious and semi-precious stones makes the product even more capricious and demanding. Diamonds, corundums, topazes, quartz stones cannot be scratched, they can be cleaned by any means, but pearls, corals, amber stones can only be wiped with suede.

For “delicate” stones, ammonia is not suitable, it will lead to darkening

There are special formulations for cleaning inlaid items.

Products with enamel

The enamel on the insert does not favor chlorine, alkali or acid. Such "vulnerable" little things are not treated with soda, do not subject to temperature changes.

Beauty requires proper care

Enamel inserts in silver agree only to washing in cold water with the addition of 2-3 drops of ammonia. It is not worth soaking the jewelry, a soft cloth is moistened in the solution and the product is simply wiped. The enamel is cleaned with a brush, washed in water and wiped off.

Chains

The chains are cleaned using any of the above methods. Ordinary milk deserves special attention: the product is boiled in it for several minutes and literally brightens before our eyes. Wipe the chain with a flannel cloth and do not forget to regularly wash it in soapy water, which will prevent darkening.

Gold Plated Silver

The generally available methods for gilded silver are not suitable due to the tenderness of the gilding layer. Abrasive and aggressive products destroy it easily.

The slightest dirt - and the jewelry needs to be wiped with suede

If the contamination is strong enough, the product can be cleaned with a cotton pad dipped in ethyl alcohol or turpentine.

If you remember the rules for storing and caring for such jewelry, then their service life will be significantly extended.

Silver with blackening

Blackened silver is worthy of increased attention. On the surface of the product there is a dark layer obtained by the oxidation method.

Oxidized metal is obtained through the interaction of oxygen and metal in a redox reaction

The dark film must be preserved by all means, because it is thanks to it that the product has an antique look. If you clean the products with a brush or harsh chemicals, then everything will be hopelessly spoiled.