Ahh! One of the age-old questions for jewelry owners. How do you avoid your jewelry tarnishing? First let’s establish what tarnish is and how it’s different between gold and silver.
What Causes Tarnish
Silver tarnish is caused by sulfur in the air, not by contact with oxygen as many may think. It’s most apparent on pieces of sterling silver, an alloy of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals (commonly copper or zinc), because the other metals used in the alloy often are more reactive to sulfur. Copper in particular is quick to tarnish and when used for sterling silver it accelerates the tarnishing reaction. It may seem to be a strange example, but silver jewelry placed near something sulfurous, such as a hardboiled egg, will visibly tarnish in under an hour. That’s because the sulfur released by the hardboiled egg, if not properly ventilated away from the jewelry laying nearly, will accelerate the tarnishing. This example is also used as an at-home experiment to demonstrate the chemistry behind silver tarnishing.
Gold on the other hand, when purest, does not tarnish. Though it may appear to dull due to dirt and oils that accumulate over time and wearing. There are still ways to avoid this lack-luster look though. Next, let’s go through the common and not-so-common ways to prevent tarnishing or tarnished appearance.
Preventing Tarnish
- First rule of thumb is to store your jewelry in a cool, dry, padded location such as a jewelry box, in a natural fiber pouch, or in a padded tray in a safe.
- Store with a piece of acid-free tissue paper or in an acid-free resealable bag. The treatment applied to these tissue papers and bags neutralizes sulfite vapors in the air. You could double down on this by storing your pieces with acid-free tissue in a jewelry box.
- An older method is to store your silver with a piece of plain chalk. This helps eliminate moisture that may be present. This is helpful for storing larger sets of silverware in a drawer, for example, though it does not neutralize sulfite vapors so using acid-free tissue paper would still be beneficial. Some people use desiccant packets to absorb moisture and neutralize sulfites, but we don’t recommend this for people with chemical-sensitivities or those children and/or pets in the house.
- Avoid wearing jewelry while swimming (pools, open ocean, lakes, etc.), in the hot tub, and when handling well water. These are all situations where silver can quickly become tarnished. The chemicals in pools and hot tubs, and the minerals present in the other water sources can accelerate tarnishing.
- Do not put your jewelry on until after you’ve finished applying any makeup, hair spray, or after your hair is dry from a shower. Makeup, hair spray, and shampoo products are all high in sulfites. It’s best to finish getting ready, wash and dry your hands, and then put on your jewelry and accessories.
- Clean your pieces regularly. After each wear, wipe your jewelry down with a clean, natural fiber cloth. This will lift away the good portion of grime before you put your piece away for the evening. A cleaning with warm, soapy water, once every three months will help significantly. Cleaning your silver with one of the Timio Tested Three Silver Cleaning Methods once or twice a year will also remove tarnish and improve the appearance of your jewelry.
We encourage you to not become so worried about tarnish that you don’t wear and enjoy your jewelry. If you use even just two of these methods to help avoid tarnish, your collection will benefit. In more extreme cases of tarnishing, you should consult with a trusted, local jewelry store to inquire about a professional cleaning to revive your most “tired” looking pieces. Whenever you take pieces into a jewelry shop to be cleaned or repaired make sure the clerk fills out a Take-In form which you both sign (for liability reasons). If applicable, you should also make sure that the shop is practiced in handling and repairing 24K gold and fine silver jewelry since not all are.
