How to clean a silver chain from blackness. How to clean a silver chain without much effort? Cleaning products with citric acid or soda

Owners of silver products often ask the question: how to clean a silver chain? The blackened decoration is not attractive, rather it indicates the carelessness of the owner.

There are several reasons for darkening:

• The sweat of a person, accumulating on the chain, is clogged with dust and sebum.
• The humid climate in the area where the owner lives contributes to the accumulation of dirt.
• Frequent contact with water, including sea water, contributes to rapid darkening.

Experts say that the darkening of silver is a natural process. Instead of looking for reasons, it is better to regularly clean plaque from jewelry.

The cleaning method depends on the degree of contamination, as well as the quality of the silver. Massive chains are not afraid of powerful cleansers. Thin products are best cleaned with delicate products without abrasive impurities.

Cleaning with ready-made products

Jewelry stores sell prepared solutions that can be used to clean a silver chain. On the bottle, instructions for use are written and the permitted frequency of use is indicated.

At home, you can resort to the following methods:

• Dishwashing liquid. A small amount of funds is applied to the moistened chain. Clean well with a toothbrush, rinse abundantly with warm water. If necessary, the procedure is repeated twice.
• Soap for cleaning silverware. They lather a wet product, clean it with a brush, rinse thoroughly with water.
• Napkins for cleaning silver items.
• A device for cleaning silver with ultrasonic waves.

Depending on the quality of the jewelry, it is determined how to clean the jewelry.

How to clean a silver chain with improvised materials?

With the tools that are in almost every home, you can perfectly clean silver jewelry. The most effective methods include:

• Toothpaste. A simple white substance will do. Gels and multi-colored pastes are not suitable. With a toothbrush with soft bristles, the chain is rubbed according to the principle of brushing your teeth. After that, the chain is thoroughly rinsed in water and dried on a napkin.
• Dentifrice. Perform manipulations by analogy with toothpaste.
• Ammonia. Add 5-6 drops of alcohol to a container with warm soapy water. Immerse the decoration in the solution for 15 minutes. They get it. Rinse thoroughly with water.
• Soda. It is mixed with water in a ratio of 3:1. Rub the chain well with gruel, wash the product in warm water.
• Foil. It is placed at the bottom of the pot. Above - a darkened chain. The decoration is covered with two tablespoons of soda, then water is poured to cover. Boil the pot for five minutes. Sometimes soda is replaced with citric acid. After boiling, the jewelry is taken out, thoroughly washed in cold water and allowed to dry.
• Olive oil. Apply a little olive oil to a soft cloth. Rub them with silver. After that, the product is washed in warm soapy water, dried.
• Vinegar. A silver chain is placed in a container with vinegar. Leave for two hours. At the end of the period, the jewelry is taken out and washed well with water.

Unconventional cleaning methods

"Dry" method:

• Sprinkle a handful of baking soda on a paper towel.
• A silver chain is placed on the soda, they are clamped in their hands and movements are carried out like a hand-washing thing.
• The napkin is clamped between two fingers. Carefully pull the chain through the napkin. During manipulation, dark marks remain on the white napkin.
• With a paper handkerchief or a soft cloth, remove the remnants of soda. It is not necessary to wash the chain.

All manipulations are carried out with slow movements, otherwise the decoration will be covered with small scratches.

Cleansing with Coca-Cola

A silver chain is dipped into a glass of cola for two hours. Then they take it out and wash it well.

Prevention of darkening

In order not to ask questions about cleaning jewelry from accumulations of dust, dirt and sweat, it is better not to allow them to darken. At home, it is very simple to periodically carry out preventive measures aimed at preventing darkening.

The main preventive measures:

• The silver chain is wiped with a damp flannel cloth after each wear.
• You need to store jewelry made of silver in a box, upholstered inside with a cloth.
• Do not mix silver items with jewelry made from other metals.
• Once every two months, preventive cleaning is carried out with special mixtures or improvised means.
• A colorless varnish can prevent blackening. It is applied in a thin layer on a new product. Shake a little, allow the liquid to be evenly distributed in a thin layer.

Preventive cleaning measures will help to avoid the accumulation of dirt between the links of the chain. Therefore, it will be necessary to clean the chain much less frequently.

Silver is a very noble metal, jewelry made from this material looks rich and elegant, while the price cannot be called exorbitant. Unfortunately, silver has a very unpleasant feature, its only drawback is the tendency to darken. Therefore, if you like to wear not even individual elements, but entire sets, the question will inevitably arise of how to clean silver at home - chains, bracelets, rings.

Often the reasons for the darkening of silver are: contact with water, the release of human sweat, a humid environment and the banal aging of the metal. Experts say that this phenomenon cannot be avoided, which means that it is necessary to find ways to deal with the problem. This article will focus on silver chains, but these tips and tricks can be applied to any silver item.

We clean silver chains with chemicals

Today, there are many methods that allow you to clean silver yourself at home. When buying silver jewelry abroad, you will receive a specially made cleaning agent as a gift with it. But often in our jewelry stores they offer such drugs.

Important! If you have not purchased such a product, then you can use any chemical preparations at hand, for example dishwashing detergent. It just needs to be applied to the sponge and rub the product. Be sure to use any chemical agent according to the instructions.

Moreover, shops can now offer special wipes, soap and even ultrasonic devices for cleaning silver. Absolutely all of these methods will be valid when cleaning silver.

We clean silver chains with improvised means

It is easy enough to clean the silver chain at home with the help of improvised means. There are an innumerable number of methods, but we will talk about the most basic ones.

Toothpaste

A very common method is brushing with toothpaste. But gel or colored toothpaste is not suitable for cleaning this metal, choose a white product.

The technology is simple:

1. Take a toothbrush with fine but soft bristles.
2. Smoothly rub the jewelry with toothpaste for 5 minutes.
3. Rinse with running water and dry with a towel.

ammonium chloride

An ammonia solution or ammonia is also a very effective and common method that allows you to clean a silver chain from blackness at home, regardless of the complexity of the contamination.

You need to act like this:

1. Take a glass and pour warm soapy water into it.
2. Add 6-7 drops of ammonia.
3. In the resulting mixture for 15-20 minutes we place a silver chain or other silver jewelry.
4. After the expiration date, simply rinse the silver with cold running water.

Important! You can add chalk powder to ammonia and rub silver with this mixture. After 5 minutes, the blackening will disappear.

Salt and soda

Salt and baking soda are very effective anti-tarnishing agents when used in this way:

1. Take a pot and line the bottom with foil.
2. Pour water into a saucepan, 3-4 cm high.
3. Put a blackened chain on the bottom of the dish and cover it all with 2 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of soda.
4. The pot must be put on fire and the resulting liquid boiled. Before your eyes, silver will acquire its former brilliance and radiance.
5. As soon as all the blackness is gone, you should get the chain, dry it and boldly put it on your neck.

Important! In this method, soda is often replaced with citric acid. You can also simply mix salt with water and rub it well on a silver chain and rinse under running cold water.

Potato

The next way to clean a silver chain is with potatoes. Yes, it also helps to clean silver and give it shine.

It works like this:

1. Cook 3 peeled potatoes until tender.
2. In another ceramic bowl, place the foil at the bottom and place the silver chain there.
3. Pour vegetable broth into a container with decoration for 20 minutes.
4. After you rinse the product, blackness will not remain on it.

Soda

This method is designed to easily deal with the problem of how to clean silver at home - it will be chains, bracelets, rings or other jewelry, it does not matter.

Apply the tool like this:

1. Foil should be spread on the table and covered with soda.
2. Spread silver jewelry on this foil and wrap them up.
3. Place the wrapped tubes in a pot of soapy water and boil it.
4. After boiling, you need to turn off the burner and leave the liquid to stand for about 10-15 minutes.
5. Next, we take out chains or other jewelry from the water and transfer it to a bowl of cold water.
6. We wipe them with a towel and notice that all the darkening has disappeared.

Olive oil

Another equally simple method for cleaning such metal. Olive oil is applied to a towel to wipe silver items. After this procedure, we wash off the fat with water and soap, followed by classic drying.

Vinegar

Vinegar can also clean silver jewelry quickly and easily:

1. Pour some vinegar into a fairly deep container.
2. Put a chain or other piece of silver there. Some people simply soak a rag in vinegar and rub the silver with it, but the first method is much more effective.
3. Then the jewelry is washed with cold running water and wiped dry.

Aqua regia

The most effective, but also dangerous method can be called the use of “royal vodka”. The method of application is exactly the same as with vinegar. The only thing that doctors do not recommend using this method, because the remedy is very unhealthy.

There are some simple and inexpensive methods that will make your struggle with cleaning your silver chain at home easier. They will help you solve the problem of blackening on silver jewelry much easier and faster:

1. Cloth material is a great solution for cleaning silver at home. It is enough just to rub the jewelry with a cloth, and dullness with blackening will pass.
2. Some people try to fight browning with soda drinks, in particular Coca-Cola. It is the most common silver cleaning drink. Cola is poured into a fairly deep container and silver jewelry is placed there for 2-3 hours, or boiled in a drink. After that, the silver is rubbed with foil and rinsed in cold water.
3. You can also use lemon juice. Pour freshly squeezed juice into a container and place silver there for 20-30 minutes (depending on the number of stains and the degree of darkening). If there is no lemon juice, then you can prepare a fairly concentrated solution with citric acid. On average, you need 1 sachet per 1 glass.

How to slow down the process of darkening of silver?

In order not to fool yourself with how to clean a silver chain at home, you should not allow it to quickly darken. In order for the chain to remain shiny for a long time, it is worth adhering to a few elementary rules.

The chain, like other silver items, over time, begins to fade and lose its former luster. However, it can be easily reanimated by cleaning it from blackness at home. In the article, we have just given several effective ways that will help you return the decoration to its original appearance.

Silver is considered a delicate and brittle metal subject to blackening due to exposure to external factors. These include:

• high humidity in the room or frequent stay of the product in water;
• contact with the skin, especially if any cosmetics have been previously applied;
• poor quality of the metal itself;
• contact with sulfur;
• incorrect storage conditions.

How to clean?

It is quite possible to clean silver products from blackness on your own. To do this, just use one of the methods below.

foil

Aluminum, reacting with silver, copes with the tarnishing of this metal with a bang. To begin, wipe the product with a soft cloth previously moistened with concentrated soapy water. Boil water in a metal saucepan and add a few tablespoons of salt to it. Put the foil in a separate container and fill it with saline. Place the silver in a “salt bath”, leave for a few hours, then rinse and wipe dry.

soda

Soda is a universal remedy that every housewife can find in everyday life. In order to clean silver with it, you need to put the jewelry in a small container, fill it with soda so that it completely covers the product and pour boiling water over everything. Once the water has cooled, rinse the silver under cold running water and dry it.

This method is more suitable for those products that have not yet had time to oxidize too much. Just put a pendant, a cross, a chain or a ring into the water with potato pieces and leave it for several hours.

You can also boil the potatoes and dip the decorations into the resulting broth.

hydrogen peroxide

Purchase a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution at the pharmacy (no more, as the product is quite aggressive and can damage the product), dip the jewelry in it for 5-8 minutes, and then rinse.

Vinegar

You can also clean silver at home with vinegar. To do this, heat ordinary table acetic acid to 40-55 degrees and dip silver into it for no more than 15-20 minutes. Rinse it and wipe it off.

lipstick

A rather non-standard, but at the same time very effective method. And all because the composition of this decorative product includes fats and titanium dioxide, which allows you to gently clean silver from darkening. Apply lipstick to the jewelry, and then carefully rub it with a cotton pad. This should be done until the product is completely clean.

egg yolk

A simple method that has been proven for decades. Take a chicken egg, separate the protein from the yolk. Beat the yolk lightly and soak a cotton swab in it. Wipe the product with it, and then rinse it.

toothpaste

This is a rather aggressive tool that can be used if previous methods of silver cleaning did not give the desired results. Mix ammonia, toothpaste and soda until smooth. Using a soft toothbrush, apply the finished mixture to the product. This should be done with light rubbing movements. Rinse the jewelry and wipe it dry.

You can also use soapy water. Leave the product in it for 20 minutes, and then rinse thoroughly.

As for products with pearls, it is better to clean them in a weak solution of ammonia. Dilute 10 drops of alcohol in a liter of water. Soak a cotton pad in the prepared product and wipe the jewelry with it, without touching the stone.

In order for blackness to appear on silver items as rarely as possible, it is very important to provide proper care for jewelry. To do this, we suggest you use the rules below.

• After wearing, the jewelry should always be rinsed in soapy water.
• Use a mild cleanser such as shampoo or baby liquid soap.
• Do not use rubber gloves as they may damage the products.
• Wipe silver exclusively with soft cotton cloths.
• It is better to store jewelry separately, putting each in a flannel bag.

As you can see, it is very easy to clean a chain and other silver jewelry from blackness at home. The main thing is to do everything carefully so as not to damage the product.

If gold is the metal of the Sun, then silver has always belonged to the Moon. And just like our mysterious companion, at all times it was surrounded by a mystical halo. With its help, they protected loved ones from evil, purified water and even treated people. However, sooner or later, any products made from it darken. If a similar trouble happened to you, before you clean your silver chain or cross, read our simple tips.

Tools that are always in the kitchen

Potato peelings

The easiest way is to boil the thing in a saucepan with washed potato peels. To do this, you do not need to buy or harvest anything: you can use the water left after boiling the potatoes. Just dip a silver chain, a cross or a ring into it (only without a stone), add a clean potato peel and boil it all over low heat for 15-20 minutes. The decoration will shine like new.

Food foil and soda (citric acid)

Another "hot" way is to boil the product in a pot of water and two tablespoons of baking soda. Cover the bottom of the dishes with ordinary food foil, which is sure to be found among household trifles. Note: the water must completely cover the product. Boil for 5 minutes. By the way, soda can be changed to citric acid, the effect will be the same.

Vinegar

A silver chain that has turned black will become light again if it is soaked in vinegar left over from home preparations for a couple of hours. After that, rinse it with water and dry well.

Olive oil

You can simply clean the metal with a soft cloth dipped in olive oil. Then you need to thoroughly rinse the product with hot water and spread it on a dry towel to dry.

Baking soda

You can mix soda with water in a ratio of 3 to 1. Thoroughly clean the product with the resulting mixture until it regains its former shine. Then rinse it well under running water. Dry.

Ammonia

You can clean silver with ammonia. To do this, pour 100 grams of water, 1 teaspoon of ammonia and a little of any liquid detergent into a small container. Place the decoration there and close the lid tightly. After a while, your favorite thing will take its original form.

The same ammonia in combination with water and toothpaste will help restore its former shine. Mix all ingredients in a 1:1:1 ratio. Place the product in the vessel for half an hour. Then you need to get it out of the solution and carefully clean it with an old toothbrush. Take only very soft, otherwise small scratches will remain.

Dry cleaning

1. There is another easy way to save a silver item. To do this, before cleaning, it is necessary to pour a small handful of baking soda on a paper towel. Then do the following.
2. Put the chain on the soda, wrap it in a towel and gently rub it with your hands. We do such movements during hand washing.
3. Take a napkin in your hand, which has become much softer, and hold it between two fingers. After that, carefully clean the product by pulling it through a clamped napkin. Please note: dark marks remain on the snow-white napkin!
4. Remove soda residue with a soft cloth or paper tissue. Soda crystals are small, so it is not necessary to rinse the product with water.

This method requires special care, otherwise the chain may become scratched.

Coca Cola or other drinks

Yes Yes! This sweet drink can easily clean silver. And not only. For example, it is often used to clean sewer pipes. To clean, simply dip the jewelry for a couple of hours in a glass of cola, and then rinse them with running water.

Tooth powder or paste

So, before you are simple and affordable ways. If you still doubt their safety, just buy a special cleaning agent from your nearest jewelry store.

From now on, store your silver properly. To do this, you can take a separate box, the walls and lid of which are upholstered with soft cloth, and place jewelry there. Especially dear things can be wrapped in flannel fabric and laid separately from each other. Then they will not have to be cleaned soon.

Silver now rivals gold in popularity. In products (rings, chains, bracelets, etc.), silver looks very elegant and sophisticated. The price of silver products is more affordable for buyers when compared with gold, but all such products have a minus - over time they acquire an unpleasant dark tint. It is for this reason that every jewelry owner should be aware of how to clean silver jewelry. How to clean a silver chain?

Cleaning silver is a task that is easily done at home. But in order to deal with it effectively, you need to know the general rules according to which you need to clean the chain, ring, bracelet, as well as other silver items with stones.

Cleaning silver with baking soda

How to clean silver at home?

When cleaning silver jewelry, cleansers are used that are easy to prepare at home. For example, cleaning a silver chain will require the following components:

• potato peelings;
• baking soda;
• olive oil;
• vinegar.

How to clean a silver chain with these products:

1. Wash the potato peels thoroughly, then put them in a saucepan and cover with water. The dishes are put on fire and a chain, ring or other silver jewelry is immersed in water (but without stones!). The product is boiled for twenty minutes. After such a manipulation, the jewelry will shine and look like new.
2. How to clean a silver chain at home with baking soda: cover the bottom of the pan with a sheet of foil. After that, they put a chain on it and fill it with water so that the jewelry is completely covered with it. Then add 2 tablespoons of baking soda and put the pan on the fire. Boil for five minutes.
3. You can remove unpleasant blackness from the chain with vinegar. It is enough to take a little of this tool and immerse the jewelry in it. After half an hour, the silver chain should be removed and washed.
4. Olive oil will help to clean the chain qualitatively. They need to soak a piece of soft cloth and wipe the product thoroughly. After the decoration should be washed and dried in the air.
5. Cleaning silver dirt at home is also possible through the use of ammonia. Pour 100 grams of water into a small bowl and dilute a few drops of dishwashing gel in it, as well as a teaspoon of ammonia. Dip the decoration into the solution and cover the dish with a lid. After a while, not a single trace of dirt will remain.
6. There is another ammonia recipe that solves the problem of how to clean silver jewelry, namely the chain. Water, alcohol and toothpaste should be combined in equal parts and mixed well. In this solution, you should immerse the jewelry and leave it there for 30 minutes. After the chain should be gently brushed.

Cleaning silver with lipstick

Rings also need regular maintenance, especially those worn daily. How to clean a silver ring:

1. Take a paper towel and sprinkle a handful of baking soda on it. Place a ring on a towel and wrap it up. Then with your hands you should rub the ring well in the paper. This should be done for at least five minutes. The darkening of the paper will indicate the effectiveness of the manipulation. The remnants of soda are well rubbed off with soft paper or cloth.
2. Pour a little Coca-Cola into the glass and lower the ring into the liquid. After half an hour, the decoration should be removed and washed.
3. An old lipstick (but not gloss!), And its shade is unimportant, will help to clear the blackness of the ring. To do this, take the lipstick and completely rub the jewelry with it. After 5 minutes, the cosmetics are gently wiped off with a piece of suede.

Coca-Cola cleans silver very well

How to clean silver with stones?

Silver chains, earrings, and other items encrusted with precious or semi-precious stones also need to be cleaned, but care must be taken when choosing and applying cleansers. The thing is that many components used to care for metal can harm stones. Therefore, cleaning silver with stones requires compliance with a number of rules. For example, it should be remembered that stones such as ruby, garnet and topaz can change their color if they are dipped in hot water. But ammonia and acids are completely forbidden to use to care for jewelry with any precious stones.

When answering the question of how to clean silver earrings and chains with stones, we can mention the following tools:

1. Medical alcohol: they should blot the cotton wool and rub the product thoroughly. If the jewelry is covered with a film of dirt, then they should be soaked in alcohol.
2. Soap: cosmetic or laundry soap is rubbed on a grater, after which the chips are added to warm water. Earrings are immersed in the solution and kept in soapy water for 20-30 minutes. Then the products are taken out and rinsed.

How to clean silver with stones? Instead of soap, you can use shower gel or shampoo. A couple of drops of the product should be added to the water so that water with foam is obtained. Jewelry should be lowered into it for half an hour, after which the soap should be thoroughly washed off.

If you do not want to prepare metal cleaners, you can buy them at a jewelry store and use them in accordance with the instructions. If the jewelry is heavily soiled, they can be taken to a jewelry workshop to a specialist.