eco friendly way to clean silver

**Milomade** · 05-11-2009, 08:28 AM

Has anyone tried cleaning silver with bicarbonate of soda? I've not got anything that's tarnished so can't give it a go. I've read that you can line a small dish with alluminium foil and add a teaspoon of bicarb to it and a couple of pinches of salt then put your jewellery into the dish and cover with hot water. Leave it for a few minutes and then rub dry with a soft cloth.

**Jayne** · 05-11-2009, 08:57 AM

I've tried this a few times - sometimes it works & sometimes it doesn't (maybe I was doing something wrong?).
On the occasions that it did work the jewellery was left very clean, but with no finish at all (similar to the way that it looks when you take stuff out of pickle), so it then needed a proper polish.
In the end I decided that it was probably less hassle to just polish it with polish

J x

**Milomade** · 05-11-2009, 09:23 AM

The reason I'm asking about this is because my silver jewellery incorporates buttons. So if the silver tarnishes I wouldn't want customers to clean the jewellery with anything abrasive or with chemicals as they'll damage the buttons.

Is there a way to tarnish silver quickly, so that I can test it?

**Jayne** · 05-11-2009, 09:27 AM

I guess you could oxidise it with boiled egg + plastic bag ??

**Milomade** · 05-11-2009, 09:30 AM

that sounds peculiar - how long do you think it would take?

**Emerald** · 05-11-2009, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by Jayne

I guess you could oxidise it with boiled egg + plastic bag ??

Thats more oxidisation and will send the silver black and you would struggle to get the full brightness back with just a cloth. Silver polish isent that abrasive as it polishes the silver without scratching it x

**Jayne** · 05-11-2009, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by Emerald

Thats more oxidisation and will send the silver black and you would struggle to get the full brightness back with just a cloth.

OK bad idea, sorry.
What else would tarnish silver then?
J x

**Milomade** · 05-11-2009, 09:48 AM

time... I guess...

**Boo** · 05-11-2009, 09:49 AM

You could just save yourself the worry and educate your customers how to store and care for their pieces correctly. I send everything with an anti-tarnish tab and ziploc bag and care instructions. If they don't follow your advice and the piece gets overly tarnished, then it's not really your responsibility long term.

One of the polish impregnated cloths (Goddards etc.) will get the modest tarnishing of careless wear (i.e. leaving it on the dressing table for a couple of weeks) off without being abrasive. I recommend use of these with plated materials as they're gentle enough to refresh jewellery without taking the plating off. Repeated or vigorous use will do so of course.

I have various recipes with bicarb for cleaning, but as already mentioned, found it variable in its results. Sometimes it just doesn't seem to work and other times leaves the silver white and dull. So I would never recommend it to anyone else.

I've seen lemon juice recommended many times by jewellery sellers (obviously citric acid is a good pickle) but I'm not sure it wouldn't eat away the metal if not cleaned well. I've also seen salt and vinegar made into a paste and rubbed in, but that strikes me as being just as abrasive as proper polish.

I think the gentlest idea I've heard, so stuck with myself, is just one of the soft impregnated cloths, used gently.

**Emerald** · 05-11-2009, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by Milomade

that sounds peculiar - how long do you think it would take?

Sorry Jayne forgot the bit about Milo trying to clean it with bicarb, you could try using the egg as Jayne suggested for the sake of experimentation, just boil an egg cut it up ( it oxidises really quickly if the egg is hot) and place the piece you want to oxidise in with it in a bag or box dont leave to long as the piece will go black you just want it to go slightly tarnished i guess. You might even like the look of the piece once it has been oxidised lol x