Sterling Silver, Silver Plated and Stainless Steel Tarnishing

Does 925 sterling silver change color and tarnish??

Sterling silver, even real .925 sterling silver, will always tarnish. While pure 99.9% silver is less likely to tarnish, any sterling silver will tarnish as a result of the metal mixed in. Pure silver is too soft to be used in jewelry crafting. Therefore, jewelers will often add a small quantity of copper to strengthen the silver. The resulting product is .925 sterling silver, which contains 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper. It is the primary material used for silver jewelry.  Unfortunately, because of the metals added, sterling silver, even real .925 sterling silver, will always tarnish.

Tarnishing does not mean that the silver is low purity. You may clean your jewelry with a  cleaning cloth.  Using a cleaning cloth is one of the best and easiest ways to clean your tarnished or oxidized silver. 

However, fortunately there are many ways to keep sterling silver from tarnishing.

• Corrosion in sterling silver takes place when silver gets into contact with salty solution or chemicals. Therefore it is very important to keep jewelry away from salt water or any house products or toiletries solution.

• Can you shower with sterling silver? It’s basically fine. But we do not encourage our customers to wear your sterling silver when showering. Water generally doesn’t harm sterling silver, but there is a good chance that it could lead to tarnishing. In short, do not wear silver in the shower or when doing dishes.

• Avoid wearing jewelry in activities that make you sweat, such as outdoor chores or sports.

• Last to put on, first to take off. Another important rule to prevent silver from tarnishing is that your jewelry should be the last thing you put on, after applying make-up and perfume and the first to be taken off, before your shower or activities. This is to preventing contact between any possible chemicals or salty sweat and your silver.

• Consider your home and work environment. Examine your job or environment to see if you deal with chemicals or other solutions on a regular basis. If that’s the case, remove your silver before working with chemicals. For example, people working at cosmetics or perfume sales job might find themselves having to clean their silver jewelry more regularly.

• If you are living in a rather polluted environment, your jewelry might tarnish faster due to high level of sulphur in the air. As a result, it will need more regular polishing as well.

• It might just be your body chemicals. In some rare cases, certain people’s sweat could react more with silver, resulting in faster tarnishing. This can become even more pronounced if the person is eating certain foods or using certain medication.

• Wear it regularly. After reading all these tips, you may want to store your sterling silver and never wear it. But that’s the last thing you should do. One of the best ways to keep sterling silver beautiful is to wear it. As soon as you wipe it off and take care of it, it should look new and last a long time.

• In short, wear your jewelry regularly but do take them off at night, and keep them away from light and moisture and preferably in a Ziploc bag. Otherwise, prepare to polish and clean them more regularly in order to maintain their perfect shine.

After reading all these tips, you might be inclined to throw your sterling silver jewelry into storage for life and never wear it. But that's the last thing you should do.

If you want to keep your sterling silver jewelry looking its best, the most effective way to do it is to take it out and wear it all the time. As long as you wipe it down when you're done wearing it, it should look like new at all times and last forever.

Here is a great home remedy that is used to clean sterling silver jewelry:

Salt, Baking Soda & Dish Detergent

1. Line a bowl with aluminum foil and top with salt, baking soda, and dish detergent.

2. Add hot water and drop in your jewelry, letting it sit for 10 minutes.

3. Gently scrub with an old toothbrush.

4. Rinse and pat dry with paper towel.

What about silver and gold plated items?

Plated items, which have an industry standard of 0.15 to 0.25 mils thickness of gold, silver or nickel plated to the surface of the base metal, look very similar to precious metal findings. They are somewhat more brittle and tarnish easier, although are quite a bit less expensive than the precious-metal type. We clearly mark our jewelry as Gold-Plated, Silver-Plated and Rose Gold-Plated. The majority of our pieces are fashion jewelry and semi-fine jewelry but we do carry Fine Gold and Silver so make sure you know what you are ordering/buying. 

What about stainless steel?

We carry quite a few pieces that are stainless steel. Though it is not the same color as fine silver, it has an attractive muted grey color and can have a shiny or matte finish. Stainless steel is more tarnish resistant. An added bonus is that stainless steel jewelry is an excellent alternative for wearers with allergies and sensitivity to base metals such as copper or brass.

We truly hope you enjoy your Cellar67 jewelry and gifts!