My mom gave me several silver pieces to clean yesterday. All jewelries have turned black due to oxidation. When that happens, it is a sign that the jewelries/accessories and other wares are really made of 92.5% silver. The remaining 7.5 % is made of other metals (Hello, Copper!). Now, the problem is how do we turn the silver jewelries back to its original state?
Why Silver Turns Yellow, Brown, Green or Black? | Oxidation... what?!
Silver jewelries and accessories like necklace, bracelets and rings tarnish over time. The accessories and other silver wares turn into not so nice things to look at. The main cause is oxidation. It is the chemical reaction with hydrogen sulfide (sulfur) present in the air. It is the metal alloy, copper, and not silver that causes the material to tarnish. Copper reacts with oxygen.
My mom packed the jewelries inside a small zip lock bag. It is not really air tight so that must have been the cause of the rapid tarnishing process.
Other than oxidation, the only other explanation why your silver pieces tarnish is its reaction to your skin's alkaline levels. The presence of Sulphur and other amino acids in perspiration (and other products like deodorant, makeup, perfume etc.) can cause discoloration to your skin and jewelry.
How to Effectively Clean Silver | Tried & Tested Method
Things You Need:
- Aluminum foil cut to fit the whole bowl (SHINY side up!)
- Bowl the can fit all the silver wares you need to clean
- BOILING water enough to cover the items
- Baking Soda (1tbsp baking soda:1 cup of water)
- Tablespoon and Kitchen tongs
- Dry and clean cloth
Here's a step by step on how to effectively clean your silver jewelry pieces/accessories and silver wares with general household items or products that you already have at home...
- Bring water to a boil
- Line your bowl with aluminum foil
- Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda into the bowl
- Pour the boiling water
- Solution will bubble... don't panic!
- Place the silver pieces in the solution using the kitchen tongs
- See instant result in less than one minute... it is like MAGIC!
- No rubbing needed!
- Rinse under cool water
- Dry with cleaning cloth
Prior to learning this amazing technique, I dipped all my silver pieces in hypochlorous acid to no avail. There is no effect and it was such a waste of time... like freaking 30 minutes!
If you tried baking soda-aluminum foil-hot water hack in cleaning your silver jewelries and it is effective, let me know in the comment section.
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