Five Ways To Protect Silver From Tarnishing

By: Daryl B. Chapman

These days, the need for gold has skyrocketed. They are highly profitable and they are nice additions to any one's collections. Still, the number one challenge faced by silver owners and collectors is silver defilement. Why does silver tarnish, especially sterling silver? How can it be prevented?

In chemistry, silver is not that reactive as compared to other metals. Popularly, it doesn't act in response with oxygen and water. Then again, if silver is mixed with other metals and alloys, the purity of the silver can diminish and tarnishing or rusting may develop. Copper can react with oxygen in the air as with the Sodium Chloride also known as table salt. Sodium chloride can erode and the erosion can appear on silver containers or shakers. Similarly, tarnish is what happens when silver becomes silver sulfide. What happen is that the usual silvery color turns dark black. It is average in silvers spoon or metals. When the sulfides in silver spoons react with the air around, it can turn black.

Favorably, tarnishing in silver is highly preventable. If you want your silver to shimmer and shine like new again here are a few tips.

Use Aluminum Foil
Here is an easy way to cleanse stubborn tarnish in hoops or teapots. First is to conceal the inside bottom of a glass heat proof dish. Then, get a chunk of aluminum foil in your kitchen and place one shiny sheet inside. The glittery sheet must lie inside up. Put the dingy and tarnished silver items at the bottom of the dish and add one big tablespoon of baking soda. Little by little pour boiling water over it until it covers the whole piece. The discolor will slowly but surely accumulate on the aluminum foil. The result is your sterling silver is clean and very pleasant to the eyes once again. To maintain the silvery demeanor of silver, once you remove your silver, rinse it thoroughly. Apply polish generously.

Use Baking Soda
Baking soda is very expedient in maintaining the glamor of silver jewelries and other silver items. Simply mix a paste of baking soda and water. Deliberately rub the silver with the mixture. Rinse and dry with a clean piece of textile. If you have silver flatware at home, simply sprinkle the baking soda on a moist cloth and rub it on the flatware gently.

Use Chalk
Chalk can naturally absorb the moisture that causes silver to discolor. Add a couple of chalks to the area where you usually deposit your silver to avoid tarnishing and rusting.

Apply Toothpaste
Coat your sterling silver with a commercial toothpaste to remove stubborn stains and tarnish. Subsequently, run it under warm water. Foam it up then rinse it off completely. For hard to reach areas use soft bristle toothbrush.

Store It Properly
If you are not wearing your sterling silver, make sure that you store your items properly. Before storing your silvery pieces, coat them in a jewelry polishing cloth. Find a plastic zip-lock bag or a simple sandwich bag and place the cloth inside. Zip-lock bags are suggested as it can prevent moisture from getting inside.

Removing tarnish can be difficult. Fortunately there are techniques to prevent and to banish them completely. If you hope to maintain the beauty of your silver pieces consider the tips above. You can also invest in good quality silver polish to keep your silver pieces shiny and shimmering than ever before.

Article Source: http://yourfinance.co.za