Care
Care Instructions For Sterling Silver
Sterling silver is an alloy consisting of 92.5% silver, and the rest is composed of copper, thus the "925 Sterling Silver". Silver is soft and malleable, which is why it needs to be alloyed with other metals. Silver alone is too soft and this is why you cannot have a 100% silver piece.
Sterling Silver will tarnish when exposed to the ozone and hydrogen sulfide in the air. Perfumes, hair sprays, and over secretion of natural body oils can also quicken the tarnishing process.
Although you cannot 100% prevent tarnish from happening, you can significantly delay the formation of tarnish. The best way is to minimize tarnishing is to wear your sterling silver jewelry frequently. The oils in your skin will "clean" the sterling silver every time you wear a piece.
When you are not wearing your pieces, the best way to minimize tarnishing is to store them in individual, plastic zip-top baggies. These are provided to you at your time of purchase. While it may not look pretty, plastic zip-top bags are actually the best method to use for storing your jewelry. Keeping the air off the silver will slow down the tarnishing process.
A great way to clean tarnish from your pieces is hot water & dish soap and then buffing with a chemically treated polishing cloth. Polishing cloths are impregnated with safe to use chemical compounds designed to remove tarnish. It will bring up the luster and natural patina of your silver to a beautiful shine.
Care Instructions For Silver-Plated
All silver-plated jewelry will eventually tarnish, as the chemicals from daily wear and the exposed layer of silver react with air to change the color of a piece. Our Silver-plated jewelry has a thin layer of silver that covers a base metal of brass. Because the coating is thin on the base, cleaning needs to be careful but complete to keep up an item's shine.
The Best way to Clean Silver-Plated Jewelry:
Storing your silver plate in a plastic zip-top bags is the best thing to prolong the life of your pieces! When your pieces begin to tarnish we recommend a gentle cleaning with hot water & dish soap. You can use a silver polishing cloth HOWEVER be very gentle with the buffing as you can strip the piece of its plating with over-buffing.
You can also try this method of baking soda and aluminum foil:
- Cover the inside of a bowl with aluminum foil.
- Pour 1 tbsp. baking soda and 1 tbsp. salt into a bowl.
- Fill the bowl half full of hot water.
- Stir the contents of the bowl to mix them.
- Submerge the silver plated jewelry in the solution.
- Wait 10 minutes before removing the jewelry.
- Rinse the jewelry and wipe it dry with a lint-free cloth.