Preventing Tarnish
Posted by Leah on Jan 25, 2006
Here are a few tips for preventing (or at least slowing) the tarnishing process:
- Store jewelry in a clean, dry environment
- Before storing your jewelry, clean it, and wipe metal parts with a silver polishing cloth (many brands contain chemicals that will help prevent tarnish from forming; they will also remove slight tarnish that has started forming)
- Consider purchasing anti-tarnish strips or anti-tarnish cloth (also called pacific cloth) for long-term jewelry storage
- Do not wear your jewelry in the shower, swimming pools, hot tubs, while cooking, or while using hair products or household cleaning products. These situations can expose the metal to sulphur and other chemicals that may cause oxides and sulfides (in other words, tarnish) to form.
- Clean and polish jewelry when tarnish starts - it is a lot easier to remove light tarnish (i.e. with a polishing cloth) than heavy tarnish.
