Do you love wearing sterling silver ornaments? Then, what is stopping you from increasing your sterling silver jewelry collection? Do not let the fear of tarnishing mitigate your desire to wear beautiful jewelry made from sterling silver. This article is all about the tarnishing of sterling silver and its proper care manual. Continue reading to learn more.
Let’s not beat around the bush and come straight to the fact. The straightforward answer to your question that whether sterling silver tarnishes or not is, yes it does. Sterling silver jewels do tarnish if you don’t follow up a proper care routine. So, if you wish to keep all your silver jewels glossy, you need to work on it a bit.
What is sterling silver, and why does it undergo tarnishing?
You might be pondering whether sterling silver is pure silver or not and if it is pure why the prefix ‘sterling’ sits before it. Don’t worry, you will get answers to all your queries in this very article. Look, standalone pure silver is not a very hard material. Rather, it is much softer than other materials such as gold. So, it is impossible to make ornaments out of such a soft and delicate material, right? But to make things work, sterling silver came into existence.
Now, what is this sterling silver? It is an alloy that comprises 92.5% of pure and perfect silver. The rest 7.5% of the alloy consists of copper. This duo of silver and copper resulted in a strong alloy and there you are! Wearing stunning and shiny ornaments made from sterling silver. The addition of copper to silver, made it perfectly fit for composing strong and durable silver jewelry. Another significant factor behind using copper in this silver alloy is that copper doesn’t make the silver lose its shine or color. This wouldn’t have been possible if it was any other material besides copper.
But, you must be well aware of the fact that nothing in this world is perfect, and neither is copper. Undoubtedly, copper has a ton of pros that made it possible for us to wear gorgeous silver jewelry. Although, a massive con of copper is its tarnishing property. So, now you know why sterling silver ornaments experience tarnishing. It is not the silver, but the copper that makes your favorite accessories tarnish.
How to clean sterling silver bracelets?
Has tarnishing made the charm of your favorite sterling silver bracelets less? Don’t be upset. There are plenty of homemade hacks to clean up your tarnished ornaments perfectly. Yes, you heard that right, try these fantastic homely hacks to bring back the lost charm of your silver jewelry without any professional help.
- Hack 1 – Take a scoop of baking soda and a spoonful of vinegar. Put them in a bowl and place your bracelet there. Leave it around 2-3 hours and come back to witness the wonder!
- Hack 2 – If you don’t have vinegar at your home currently, try the baking soda hack with warm water. Repeat the process mentioned in hack 1 and get spectacular results!
- Hack 3 – Have you ever tried the lemon hack? Squeeze a whole lemon into a bowl and add up two spoons of any oil. Olive oil and coconut oil are preferable. Brush the mixture all over your bracelet and let it sit for about 20 mins, later wash it off with lukewarm water to see amazing results.
Additional tips to save your sterling silver jewels from getting tarnished.
- Do not expose the ornaments to open air for a long time.
- Avoid wearing it to pools and showers.
- Keep them safe in an airtight container away from sunlight.
Follow the above-mentioned guidelines, and you are good to go!
Conclusion:
You can never get enough of the beautiful sterling silver accessories. Sterling silver ornaments are a beautiful fit for every occasion. Though these astonishing ornaments undergo a con of tarnishing, you can easily overcome that with the simple techniques mentioned in this article. Follow them, take good care of your favorite silver jewelry and flaunt them gracefully without the fear of getting tarnished.
The sterling silver ornaments are especially known for their long-lasting durability. These ornaments are extraordinarily durable and hardy. With proper care, sterling silver jewelry can even last up to 40 years or more. All you need to do is, take good care and wear them a little less than your usual ornaments.
If left exposed to air or water for a long time, sterling silver accessories can tarnish due to the copper present in the alloy. Tarnished sterling silver looks incredibly dull and dark. But, do not worry, you can make it look exactly the way it looked before by undergoing an appropriate cleaning process. Lemon juice and baking soda are beneficial in such cases.
If you speak about pure silver, know that pure silver is a very soft and delicate substance, which is unsuitable for any kind of jewelry manufacturing. Hence, it is not scratch resistant. If you speak of sterling silver, then yes this hard material is scratch-resistant and hardy.