Beads and jewels


Care & Storage of Sterling Silver Jewelry

Proper care and storage of your sterlingimmerse the stone. Gently wipe with a
silver jewelry means you will have manysoft cloth and rinse with cool water.
years of pleasure and your jewelry willAlways make sure your jewelry is
continue to look like new. Sterlingcompletely dry before storing.
silver will tarnish over time and with aThere are a number of excellent quality
little care will continue to looksilver polishes and pastes that you may
beautiful. With some pieces, you maywish to use for pieces that are more
even wish to leave some "color" toheavily soiled. Again, do not rub the
enhance the contrasts or aged appearancepolish on the gem stone as it may dull
of your jewelrythe surface over time. Be sure to rinse
Types of Cloths/Brushesyour piece thoroughly and remove all
Because sterling silver is a relativelypolish or paste. If your jewelry is a
soft metal, it will scratch easily. Forplain silver piece, with no gem stone,
best results use only use only soft,you may want to use a silver polish
lint-free 100% cotton cloth. Terryspray.
cloth, synthetic fabrics or any coarseUltrasonic cleaners are not recommended
cloth may cause fine surface scratchesfor any silver jewelry with gem stones
which will trap tarnish, dirt andand particularly any that are porous,
polish. This will cause your jewelry tolike turquoise. The cleaner may harm
lose its luster and appear duller overthe stone. If your silver jewelry has
time.no setting, then you may use an
You may clean your silver jewelry with aultrasonic cleaner.
very soft brush, like a baby'sHow to Clean
toothbrush, a horsehair brush or brushesIf you've ever noticed a black car that
sold for this purpose. Some havehas been repeatedly hand washed, you'll
successfully used mushroom brushes. Thenotice the circular scratches that
bristles of the brush must be very softinevitably show. Keep that in mind when
and used gently. There's no place foryou're cleaning your jewelry. Use a
rough treatment or harsh scrubbing iflengthwise gentle motion to wipe your
you wish to preserve the luster of yourjewelry clean rather than a circular
jewelry.one. Any surface scratches that occur
Anti-tarnish polishing cloths arewill be less noticeable. Make sure that
available and are very inexpensive.you rinse your jewelry completely and
These are both handy and easy to use.gently dry with a clean, soft cloth.
However, if your jewelry includes gemHow to store
stones, you'll need to be careful not toStoring each piece of silver jewelry
rub the stone(s) with the cloth. Itseparately will reduce the amount of
could, over time, damage the stone.scratching that occurs in a jewelry box.
Types of CleanersUsing an airtight zipped bag - plastic
For the same reasons, a soft cloth isor specially purchased anti-tarnish bags
necessary - so is a soft, gentle- will help reduce tarnishing over time.
cleanser. There are several optionsSilver jewelry is meant to be worn.
available.Actually our body oils act as a barrier
For light cleaning, a mild detergent andto tarnish - most of the problem will
warm water will often do the trick.come in storing the jewelry. A little
Just make sure that you are using aconsistent care will go a long way to
lint-free soft cotton cloth to gentlykeeping your sterling silver jewelry
clean your jewelry. Once cleaned andbeautiful for a lifetime. But if you're
rinsed thoroughly, gently dry completelylike most of us and get busy with other
before storing.things, it's nice to know that silver
You can also purchase a silver cleaningjewelry is quite forgiving.
dip - just make sure that you do not



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