Sterling silver is one of those things that when you received it in a box, you will immediately love it no matter what. Most sterling silver accessories are really nice to put on especially if you are a girl who likes to be on trend all the time. However, sterling silver is not simply for trendy girls only. A lot of classic and preppy girls also like the sterling silver. Why? Sterling silver is actually a good choice to wear in the more corporate and modest scenes like the office and the meeting room. Imagine wearing some gold, loud and obnoxious necklace in the meeting room. It can quite make a scene but not in a good way. The only people who can wear it and not look like they are trying to hard would be the ones who work in fashion and media where the outfits are more lax and free of restraints.
If you still want to be trendy while you are wearing your sterling silver, it will all be about the way you wear it. In terms of necklaces, you can be trendy if you pile them on. It should not be one style of silver chain but it can also vary. Compared when you pile all gold necklaces, it makes you look like from the ancient times and people might actually think of you as a Trojan. Unlike with silver, it is trendy yet still acceptable and subtle. You can also wear chokers. The ones that are closer to the neck and looks like a collar. It is also one of the trendier things to wear when it comes to sterling silver. Another choice could be a single long sterling silver chain with a nice and eye-catching pendant. If of course, you want to be classic looking, go for the single short strand with a same diamond or pearl pendant.
Sterling silver is also needed to be taken good care of especially if you want it to last. Silver jewelry can easily tarnish if you expose it to too much air because it mixes up with it and combines with sulfur and sulfide that causes the silver to tarnish and even blacken. However, if you know the proper ways to clean or store it, you can actually prolong its life. What are these ways?
1) Clean it with silver solution.
You can buy this silver solution at any store or jewelry store. This solution is simply rubbed to your jewelry to remove the tarnish. There is also what you call the commercial solution which is the same solution that they use in museums to preserve the intricate details of historical items.
2) Zip it in a bag.
Like mention above, do not overexpose your silver jewelries into air. So when you will store them, make sure that you put it in a zip lock bag or a air tight container so that no air will come through it.
Silver is great especially if you know how to take care of it.
Sterling silver is one of those things that people especially girls would love to wear. Compared with gold jewelries, silver is more appropriate to wear and versatile. You can wear it in the office and not look like you are being obnoxious and loud which can happen if you are wearing gold. Silver is also a more popular choice among the younger generation because it does not look too old to wear. If you are wearing sterling silver rings, earrings and necklaces, the most common thing that they do is to hang some stones in it. For earrings, by far the most popular are those with pearl stones because they always look classy, elegant and timeless. For necklaces, among the more popular would be the ones with heart pendants.
Because of the intricate details of sterling silver, more and more people would want to know the ways on how they can actually take care of their precious sterling silver. If you are clueless about it, here’s how:
1) Before you put your sterling silver inside your jewelry box or cabinet, put it in a zip lock bag. Why? Sterling silver when exposed with fresh air can actually create sulfide or sulfur that either tarnishes the sterling silver or blackens it. So if you are to store it, make sure that you first place it in a tight air plastic or container. If you are to put it in a bag, release the remaining air from it too.
2) If you are in a tight budget but you still want to clean up your sterling silver, you can do it at home. All you have to do is boil some water. In a different aluminum or water pan, sprinkle some baking soda and then put your sterling silver in the pan. Gently pour down the boiled water into the baking soda and the silver making sure that the jewelry is deeply submerged in it. Leave it for a few minutes. Try to toss and turn it too using a wooden spatula, fork or spoon from time to time. Once the water is cooled down, you remove the silver jewelry from the pan and then slightly wipe it with dry cloth.
3) If you have enough money to spare, the thing you can buy are those silver solutions that are pre-made already. You simply rub this into your silver jewelry and in a few minutes it will return into its original color. However, the only downside to this is that you can actually damage the intricate details of your silver jewelry because of the rubbing.
4) Buy a silver cloth and wrap your silver accessories in it. Silver cloths are available in fabric stores and are really made for you to you keep your silver whether accessories, plates, utensils, bowls, candle sticks, etc. intact.
5) Buy commercial solution like the ones they use in museums. Compared with number 3, this one is proven to really not damage your silver because you do not rub it too much.
Your silver will definitely glow again and catch someone’s attention with these steps.
Sterling silver can be found in many types of jewelries whether rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc. When you wear sterling silver, you are immediately taken to a place wherein you are simply beautiful whatever you are wearing. For instance, if you are wearing sterling silver earrings, your face lights up immediately. When you are wearing it as a necklace, it will draw more attention to your neck, it can make it long or short depending on how long your chain is or what style you have. The best thing about sterling silver is that it is very sophisticated and unassuming that you can wear it to work and formal gatherings without looking too loud.
Since sterling silver has many uses and many occasions wherein you can wear it appropriately, you also need to take care of it well. Sterling silver tarnishes and discolors most of the time if not stored or cleaned well. Sterling silver when combined with air creates either sulfur or sulfide. This either tarnishes the silver or creates a black powder thing that clings to the silver. Fortunately, there are actual ways on how to keep your sterling silver looking like new. Here’s how:
• Instead of storing it in jewelry boxes, store your silver jewelries in zip lock plastic bags or air tight containers. In this way, no air will be able to go near it and as mentioned above, there would be no tarnishing or discoloration that can happen. Nonetheless, when you store it in plastic, there still might be air so make sure that you squeeze it all out before keeping the jewelry safe.
• Wear your jewelries as often as you can. Like mentioned in the introduction, silver sterling can make anyone pretty anytime but that is not the only benefit you can get. Wearing it often will also prevent it from tarnishing and discoloration.
• Make a home-made silver cleaning solution using hot water and baking soda. Simply boil some water. Put baking soda in a bowl or cup depending on how big your jewelry is. Then put the jewelry at the bottom of the cup or bowl then pour the hot water over the whole mixture and make sure that the jewelry is fully submerged. Turn the jewelry with wooden fork or spoon several times. Once the water is cool already, remove the jewelry from the mixture. After a few minutes and damp it with dry cloth. You can do this solution to your silver jewelries about 3 to four times depending on how badly the discoloration is.
• Buy commercial solution from the stores. Commercial solutions are used by museums to keep their silver history items preserved. Unlike silver solutions, commercial silver solutions are not rubbed directly to the items so it will not be damaged. Rubbing too much will most likely damage intricate details of the jewelries or whatever silver item you’ve got.
Keeping your jewelry in a safe place and cleaning it is actually the same thing like what you do in your shoes or bags.
If you are a lady who likes jewelries, probably one of those things you have in your jewelry cabinet is sterling silver. This particular type of jewelry is loved by so many because of its versatility. You can wear it with anything and it makes any outfit look elegant and pop up. However, together with loving this jewelry are the chances of it getting tarnished or discolored.
How does sterling silver get discolored or tarnished? Well, if you do not store your sterling silver in the right way and it gets mixed up with air, the silver and air will combine and this is called as sulfur. That sulfur is the one that makes your sterling silver get tarnished. Another problem that may arise with air is silver sulfide. This one creates a black area in your silver accessories and you simply have to remove them through cleaning to make sure that the jewelry will return back to its original color.
What are some other ways to keep your sterling silver alive?
1) Keep it in a tight air container or zip lock plastic. As mentioned above, sterling silver when combined with air is not a great idea so what you can do is instead of storing it into jewelry boxes; you can simply use plastic or containers. In this way, air will not be able to go into your sterling silver. However if you are using a zip lock plastic bag, make sure you press the plastic hard enough so that the unnecessary air inside will be released.
2) Another thing you can do is to purchase cleaning solutions in the grocery stores. There are actually a lot of stores that have this kind of solution for sale. What you will do with this solution is you rub it directly to your sterling silver. There is a problem with this though, the more you rub, the more chances of damaging the intricate details of your silver jewelry.
3) Wear your sterling silver jewelry all the time. Yes, contrary to the misconception, wearing your silver jewelry all the time will not only make you look good but it will also prevent your jewelry from tarnishing.
4) Wrap your silver jewelries in a silver cloth. A silver cloth can be bought at any fabric store and it can be used to store any silver thing you can think of from your jewelries, candle sticks, bowls, utensils and basically any thing silver.
5) Commercial chemical solutions are used by museums to keep their silver items clean and maintaining its natural color. Compared with using silver cleaning formulas that you can buy in the stores (see number 2), this solution is actually not directly rubbed into your items making the intricate details in your items preserved.
6) If you are all about natural home-made remedies, what you can do is get a bowl or a cup. Combine boiling water and baking soda then drop your silver accessories whether rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, etc. unto it. Make sure that the water exceeds the level of the silver accessory. Keep it there for a few minutes.
Your jewelries should be treated right even if they are non-living things.
Sterling silver is one of those jewelries that almost everyone has or would like to have. It is a great gift for your loved ones whether they may be a man or a woman. However, sterling silver is one of those jewelries that you really need to take care of because if not, you will simply loose its magic.
What are the ways to keep your sterling silver always looking like new? Here are some tips:
1) Keep your sterling silver in a zip lock bag. Why? Tarnishing is caused by the chemical reaction with sulfur in the air. If the sterling silver reacts with sulfur it discolors or tarnishes so keeping it in a place wherein it air cannot come in will definitely prevent it from tarnishing. You can also use an airtight container if you have more space in your cabinet or closet. Another advice about using zip lock bags, make sure that before you totally store the bag, let all the air out of the bag first.
2) Buying silver cloth will also help you in keeping your sterling silver look like new and prevent all the discoloration and tarnishing. Silver cloths can be bought at fabric stores and it is really used to protect not only silver accessories but other things in your household too like flatware, bowls, candle sticks, etc.
3) There is a misconception that wearing your jewelry and it being combined with sweat will make it discolored. This may be true if your sterling silver is actually fake but if your accessory is for real, wearing it as frequently as possible is actually one of the ways to prevent it from tarnishing or getting discolored.
4) Another problem that arises when you are using sterling silver is that it blackens because of the chemical reaction of silver sulfide. However, once the black part or area in the jewelry is removed, it will definitely regain its original silver color. One of the things you can do if the things in number one to three still did not help is to actually purchase a cleaning silver solution from the stores. This may be able to help but then continuously using it and rubbing it against the silver jewelry may lead to the intricate silver linings to be ruined or damaged.
5) If you are afraid that your silver jewelry will get damaged, you can try using the commercial chemical solution. This formula is actually used by museums who are trying to preserve items from the history without having to rub them.
6) If you do not want to purchase anything and would simply one an inexpensive yet effective way to clean your tarnished silver jewelries is by making a DIY silver solution. What you need to do is to boil some water. In a separate aluminum or water pan sprinkle baking soda and put your jewelry. After which, put the jewelry in the pan and boil the water over the whole solution. Make sure that the jewelry is covered with water.
Whatever ways you want to do, you can always find ways to make your silver accessories look anew.
