Preventing Tarnish on Your Sterling Silver Jewellery

For many women, jewellery is an important part of life. Jewellery can come from gifts or it can be something that you bought because you wanted it. Regardless of where it came from, one of the responsibilities that you will have to take on when you have jewellery is that you will need to keep it clean. Some metals, such as sterling silver, can become tarnished if they are not properly cared for. Understanding what causes jewellery to tarnish can help you make sure that your sterling silver jewellery stays shining.

Where Does Tarnish Come From?

All sterling silver jewellery, regardless of where it came from, will eventually tarnish if it is not properly cared for. Jewellery that is from a reputable company is often going to be the purest. This is important to note as sterling silver is usually made of at least 92.5% silver with the rest being a combination of other metals. These metals, which are usually copper, are what cause the tarnish.

When you get your silver jewellery from Silver by Mail, you can rest assured knowing that it will have a high amount of silver in it. This is also important as it leaves less of a chance for the other metals in the sterling silver to tarnish it. Tarnish will usually come from copper oxidising the air around it, which is something that you generally cannot help. Instead, you can work on changing the conditions in which you wear your jewellery to reduce the speed that it tarnishes at. Areas that have a high humidity and high air pollution are going to speed up the tarnishing process significantly. Makeup, hairspray, perfume, body lotion, and several other body products can also speed up this process. In fact, even silver can become oxidised by your own skin or your lotion.

What Can You Do to Prevent the Tarnish?

Now that you know where the tarnish is coming from, you can start preventing it. The best thing that you can do is to make sure that you keep makeup and other cosmetic products well away from the sterling silver jewellery. Makeup and other cosmetic products are the most common cause of tarnish as their chemical compounds are harder than the jewellery itself. This means that it will rub off microscopic particles of the metal, which will eventually build up as a black dust on your hands or on the jewellery itself. You can also consider using a silver cloth to polish the jewellery.