[Ender's Mom]

So I have a beautiful tiffany necklace Thuy got me while we were dating and I was a doofus and left it out in the open air too long and it's all tarnished... parts of the chain are pretty dark gray now. Do I need to take it in to a jewelry store to get it cleaned?

Unfortunately I live in Milwaukee and the closest Tiffany's is in Chicago and I'm not going there anytime soon.

I am wary of cleaning it at home as I really don't want to ruin it more. Any suggestions?

 

[Jefferson'n'Ted]

Have you tried cleaning it with silver polish? That should take a lot of the tarnish off. Use a toothbrush on the chain and to get into small areas.

 

[Ender's Mom]

I don't own silver polish.

 

[Ender's Mom]

I found this on "ehow"

For your badly tarnished jewelry or teapots, etc., here is a easy natural way to clean it. Cover the inside bottom of a glass heat proof dish and place a piece of aluminum foil, shiny side up inside it. Put the tarnished silver in the bottom of the dish and add 1 big tablespoon of baking soda, and then slowly pour boiling water over it until it covers the piece. The tarnish will gradually collect on the aluminum foil and clean the sterling.

Does that really work?

 

[labby]

If so, I'm going to try it on my favorite pair of earrings.

 

[Ender's Mom]

Try it on your earrings and let me know Laura!!!

wondering if I can find another not-so-important piece of sterling silver that is tarnished that i can try this on

I called Tiffany's 1800 number... of course they "don't recommend" even taking it to a local jeweler and want me to mail it in or take it to a store to get it cleaned.

 

[Top Of The Hill]

I found this on "ehow"



Does that really work?

I have a "cleaning plate" especially for silver (does gold too though) that sounds like it works somewhat the same way. I think I bought it from the Shopping Channel years ago. It works great with the cleaning plate. Of course it depends how tarnished things are, but I've found that it works well even with fairly tarnished silver. Some gems such as pearls and opals should not be put in hot water.

Have you seen these? It wasn't really expensive.

 

[Bob Pr.]

Silver always tarnishes when exposed to air so periodc cleaning is necessary.

I don't own silver polish.

Buy a small jar; it's like buying shoe polish for shoes. (Very few people are born having a jar .)

I think it's safer to follow Jefferson'n'Ted's suggestion than the aluminum foil/baking soda recipe. A lot of silver jewelry is designed so that slight tarnishing helps highlight its features (although that's not usually true of a chain). The problem with completely removing ALL tarnish is that everything becomes the same color -- bright silver.

 

[Ender's Mom]

Where do I buy it? Walgreens? A hardware store?

Stupid jewelry stores on the street I frequent are either closed or out of business.

btw... this is the bracelet version of the necklace I own...

http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Ite...-p+22-c+287458-r+101323338-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t+

 

[Bob Pr.]

Where do I buy it? Walgreens? A hardware store?

Good question.

I googled WalMart and didn't find it there. Ace hardware stores -- or most hardware stores -- will carry a metal polish which is okay for silver although I'd sure prefer one, such as Wright's silver polish, designed specifically for cleaning silver.

 

[Aim]

I've heard the tinfoil trick works. But I've never tried it myself.

 

[labby]

You try it and let me know. lol

 

[Ender's Mom]

Ok... I tried the tinfoil thing on a pair of dangly earrings... I didn't use as much baking soda as it called for as they were little earrings... anyways... once the water cooled to "warm" I took them out and wiped them off with a bar towel... and they are "better" (and the towel has some dark marks on it now) but not all shiney and perfect.

While the water was cooling I went to the hardware store and bought.. Wright's Silver Cream (they were out of the silver jewelry polish)... gonna test on the earrings first

 

[kaznalf]

Tomato sauce/ketchup and yes im serious! lol Theres a cleaning programme over here and that was one of the tips for cleaning silver..rub it on with a cloth and wipe it off, apparently the acid in the tomatoes cleans it..they also put cola down the toilet as the bicarb cleans off limescale lol

 

[labby]

I'm leery of using the tin foil trick on my earrings because they have onyx stones in them too.

 

[Ender's Mom]

oh... yeah... my earrings were just plain sterling silver...

SO... I used the cream on the earrings and they look 100% good as new

Used it on the necklace and the chain is a little bit more difficult to get all the nooks and crannys so I'd say it looks 95% good as new...

Anyways... thumbs up for the cream... I'll probably try using it again with maybe a soft brush (if I can find one) to try to get all the nooks and crannys... I was just using the sponge that came with the cream.

$5.99 btw

 

[labby]

And you got it at the hardware store?

 

[GinnyR]

I usually use a silver polishing cloth, you can buy them at the Walmart around the jewelry counter. After you clean, place in a snack size ziplock bag and get the air out and seal.

I have also used the liquid silver cleaner for just silver.

Labby, I would try the polishing cloth on your earrings since they have a stone.

Hope this helps.
Ginny

 

[Ender's Mom]

And you got it at the hardware store?

Yup!

 

[Ender's Mom]

I couldn't resist... I'm wearing my "new" necklace already