Caring for Silver Items
From dainty rings and earrings to antique cutlery and serving ware, chances are you’ve got some form of silver in your home that you want to keep as clean and shiny as possible. Although silver doesn’t generally need as much maintenance as some other items in the home, it can become tarnished over time and lose some of its beloved lustre, but for many of us cleaning it can feel a little daunting due to its value and delicate-seeming nature.
To make the process a little easier for you and offer some gentle encouragement, we thought we’d share some of our top tips when it comes to caring for silver items below:
Proper Storage:
One of the best ways to minimise tarnish and keep your silver items bright and shining is to make sure they are being stored correctly.
Silver tarnishes when exposed to light and the natural sulphur in the air, so keeping your items safely tucked away in a cool, dry place is an absolute must, especially in cases like silver cutlery that you may only use once or twice a year. If you want to be extra cautious, you can also place your items in an anti-tarnish bag alongside a piece of chalk, to help absorb moisture from the air and keep tarnish at bay that little bit longer.
For items that are used more regularly, such as silver jewellery, we recommend taking these off when washing the dishes, spraying perfume, or applying beauty creams in order to avoid too much contact with chemicals or liquids. Don’t feel you shouldn’t wear your jewellery too often, however, as the friction that comes with every day life actually slows down the tarnishing process; the more you wear it, the more brightly it will shine!
Using Silver Polish:
Unless your silver items are brand new, you’ll probably find they’ve already got an element of tarnish on them and could do with a polish to get them their sparkle back again.
To get the best results, you will want to use a product specifically designed for polishing silver such as Wright’s Silver Cream or Weiman Silver Polish, but other than that the only items you’re going to need are two clean microfibre cloths and some rubber gloves to protect your hands – the process truly is a lot simpler than you may have expected:
1. Slightly dampen one of your microfibre cloths, then apply a very small amount of your silver polish product on one corner.
2. Using gentle up-and-down motions, start to rub the polish onto your silver item, taking care to avoid using too much force or any circular motions as this will highlight fine scratches.
3. As you slowly work your way round the item, keep turning your microfibre cloth to make sure you don’t accidentally rub tarnish back onto the item.
4. Once you’ve finished polishing, wash and rinse the item off in some warm water before buffing it with your second, clean microfibre cloth.
If you find liquid polish a little too tricky and messy, there are silver cleaning wipes and clothes available to buy which could be more convenient, but you’ll probably find you get the hang of things quite quickly and will be a polishing expert in no time!
Alternatives to Polish:
While polishing silver using the method above is definitely the most effective way to clean your silver, there are a couple of other options you can fall back on if you don’t have any polish to hand, using some pantry staples: dish soap and baking soda.
1. If your silver is quite heavily tarnished and in need of rescuing, you can create your own cleaning paste by mixing three parts baking soda to one part water as an alternative to polish. When you’re ready, wet your silver with water, then apply the paste using the same four steps mentioned above like you would with silver polish.
2. If, on the other hand, your silver is a little on the dull side but isn’t yet fully discoloured by tarnish, you can simply mix a couple of drops of mild dish soap together with some warm water and use a microfibre cloth to wipe the item down before rinsing in cool water and buffing dry.
Now you’ve followed all of the steps above, your silver should now be back to its former glory, ready to shine and dazzle once more, but before you go we have one last piece of advice: when it comes to polishing silver, you can have too much of a good thing, so go easy on the cleaning.
Even though polishing your silver is an essential part of keeping it clean and free from tarnish, it’s still an abrasive process and can cause damage if done with excessive force or too frequently, so you’ll be best off limiting your cleaning to once every two to six months to be safe.