The main problem with silver is cleaning it. The reason for the darkening of silver is most often increased humidity in the room. Silver also darkens if it is stored near drugs or medications that contain sulfur. The reason that the silver has sharply darkened can also be the deterioration of the owner’s health. Darkening depends on the individual characteristics of the skin. Some people's jewelry darkens within a week, while others hardly change. Quite often, silver darkens when interacting with cosmetics. In addition, it is still better not to mechanically clean silver with toothpaste and other household cleaners. All of them cause micro-scratches on silver items. Therefore, to clean silver you need to use special liquids and wipes that can be bought in jewelry stores (Johnson “Silver Quick” cleaning liquid, silver cleaning liquid, Leuchtturm (Germany), etc. You immerse the contaminated items in the solution, after a few minutes (time depends on the contamination of the surface) remove clean, shiny jewelry. You can wash items without stones and with precious stones in the solution. A special composition will cover your items with a thin protective layer that will protect them from oxidation. After cleaning, you must remove the items from the solution and rinse with clean water , wipe with a soft cloth.
Well. and if this is not possible, then silver and gold jewelry can be cleaned:
- ammonia (diluted 1:10 with water); wipe with a cloth soaked in the solution; in case of strong darkening, you can put it in the solution;
- tooth powder or paste (preferably with soda) using a toothbrush;
It would also be useful to remind you about the rules for storing jewelry. To avoid the appearance of dark spots on jewelry from touching wet skin, it is necessary to immediately wipe it with a dry flannel when removing the jewelry. When performing various household tasks, as well as when coming into contact with chemicals, it is recommended to remove rings, bracelets, and other jewelry, which protects them from damage and contamination.
It is also recommended to remove jewelry when using cosmetics prepared on the basis of mercury and sulfur salts (sulfur easily forms black sulfur compounds with silver). Dark stains on silver items are caused by iodine. Jewelry should be stored in cases in a dry place. To keep your silver items shiny longer, store them so that they do not touch each other or other jewelry.