Caring for your silver contour map jewellery
With mindful wear and considerate storage you will be able to keep your keepsakes looking as new for a long time, ensuring they’re in perfect condition to pass down, if you choose to. Occasionally, you may need to give your piece a bit more attention to keep it shining. It’s very straightforward, here’s what I’d recommend…
Preventing tarnish
Tarnishing is a process that happens naturally to many metals over time, causing it to become duller and eventually blacken. It’s caused by exposure to water, oxygen and oils, but is easy enough to remove if you know how!
To slow down the tarnishing process, I recommend you –
Store your jewellery in a sealed bag or box in a dry, dark, cool place (like a jewellery box). Air-tight storage is what you’re looking for.
Remove jewellery when showering, swimming, sleeping, etc. Do not store it in the bathroom, as it’s always damp!
Remove whilst applying lotions, perfume, hairspray, etc.
Clean the jewellery (especially if they’re earrings) with a little soapy warm water after wearing to remove oils and dirt, then dry thoroughly before storing.
Removing tarnish
Method 1 - suitable for jewellery with stones
Simply fill a small bowl with warm water and a little washing up liquid and let your jewellery soak in this mixture for about 5 minutes. Use a very soft toothbrush (one for young children is perfect) to gently wash the piece, using the brush in circular motions to get into all the nooks and crannies. Avoid scrubbing too hard, as you don’t want to scratch the metal or stones.
When you’ve removed the discolouration, rinse your jewellery in lukewarm water and well with a soft cloth.
Method 2 - not recommended for jewellery with stones
If your jewellery is heavily tarnished, you may need to use a slightly more ‘industrial’ method.
The reason it’s not recommended for stone set pieces, is that a) the boiling water can crack the stones and b) baking soda can be quite abrasive and cause scratching of the metal/stones (but this is a hands free, no-scrub process, so this is less of an issue).
What you’ll need:
A small bowl
Boiling water
Baking soda
Kitchen foil
Salt
Line the bowl with the kitchen foil and add 2 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp salt. Place the items that need cleaning into the bowl and pour over the boiling water, ensuring they’re completely covered. You’ll notice lots of fizzing and bubbles forming on the surface of the metal, this is the tarnish and dirt gradually being lifted.
Leave for a few minutes, then carefully remove the jewellery (it’ll be hot!), rinse and inspect. If it was badly tarnished, you might need to repeat the process a few times. If it’s looking good, carefully dry it with a soft cloth. You could then also buff with a silver polishing cloth. Once you’re finished, don’t forget to recycle the foil.
This method is especially useful when you need to clean silver chains, or hard to reach places like the inside of my contour map necklaces.
More ways to clean silver
Here is a link to a handy website that has 13 different methods of removing tarnish from silver – I would say though be very cautious which methods you choose if the jewellery item contains resin too.