People ask us a lot about polishing sterling silver jewelry. It’s common they buy something at a show, take it home, and notice when it starts to develop a little tarnish. That can come as a surprise – the piece no longer looks exactly as it did in the booth – but also remember that it’s a good sign. It means the jewelry is made with the real stuff!
We recommend you let the tarnish become a part of the piece, developing as it does. But if you’d like to keep your new piece shiny and new-looking, there are a couple methods you can use. First, which is our favorite, is to wear the jewelry! Your skin oils help keep the tarnish off sterling silver, so wearing your piece consistently will help keep it (and you) looking great. It’s pretty simple… buy something you LOVE, and tarnish won’t be a problem!
If, for some weird reason, you do have to take your piece off, you can choose keep it in a resealable ziploc bag. Oxygen is what causes the tarnish, and the bag keeps oxygen out. Just make sure you DON’T use commercial cleaners, or any products advertised as jewelry cleaners. We don’t trust any of ‘em, and they’ll likely do more harm than good.
Finally, you can polish your piece of sterling silver jewelry with a polish cloth. The polish cloths are often yellow, and look like the picture above. You can purchase one at your local jewelry store for nothing more than a couple dollars, or just stop by and see us at the next show in your area. We’d be glad to give you one for free!
And that’s it. Tarnishing is part of owning a high-quality piece of sterling silver. Wear your piece, enjoy it, use any of these anti-tarnish tactics you’d like, and you’ll be good to go. Did we mention the enjoy it part?
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