Has your silver jewelry developed an unsightly dark film, and you feel disappointed? Don’t worry — it doesn’t mean the jewelry is poor quality. Silver tarnish is a natural process and nothing to be afraid of. So why does silver tarnish in the first place?
The dark film on jewelry is a layer of silver sulfide. Silver jewelry develops it on contact with air and even with our skin. We tend to forget about the sulfur compounds present in the air and on our skin, which is probably why the dark film on our jewelry comes as a surprise.
Polcarat Design · sterling silver 925
Rhodium-plated silver tarnishes more slowly
Tarnishing is a natural process. Silver jewelry loses its natural shine, but you can bring it back with simple home methods.
Do we have any influence on tarnish? Yes and no. In cities with heavy air pollution, silver darkens faster, because the air contains sulfur compounds that react with silver.
But surroundings aren’t the only reason jewelry loses its original shine. Tarnish comes from the chemical properties of silver itself, so you have to accept that even contact with your skin brings jewelry closer to darkening. That also explains why silver tarnishes when you wear it.
What makes silver turn black? It’s often said that people on a protein-rich diet will see their silver jewelry tarnish noticeably faster, because digesting protein releases sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide.
Most likely not. Even if silver darkens faster for some people, a few simple methods are enough to remove the dark film.
There used to be a popular belief that people with certain illnesses shouldn’t wear silver, and that jewelry turning black on their skin was a sign of the illness. In reality, how quickly silver darkens depends on many everyday factors — from skin chemistry and cosmetics to air quality and the way the jewelry is stored.
We’ve written about this on our blog here — take a look at these quick and simple methods. For example, you can clean silver in a bath with aluminum foil (this triggers a reduction reaction that breaks down the silver sulfide and removes the tarnish) and then wipe it with a soft cloth. Always rinse silver in warm water — delicate silver jewelry doesn’t like extreme temperatures.
For the most part, proper everyday use is enough. Build a few good habits and it gets much easier. Which ones? Chains, earrings and other silver jewelry don’t like contact with cosmetics. The products on your skin also settle on your jewelry — our skin is covered with many substances that end up coating whatever we’re wearing.
This applies especially to rings. If you don’t take them off, for example to wash the dishes, they lose their shine much faster. Before any such chore, take them off and wipe away grease and chemicals with a soft cloth. Ideally, then put them somewhere dry.
You don’t have to keep your jewelry in a jewelry box. Simply putting it in zip-top bags limits the air exposure that makes silver tarnish.
It’s also worth learning a few quick and easy cleaning methods, so you can enjoy your jewelry’s shine for much longer.
Silver left lying around unprotected tarnishes (and gets damaged!) faster. Closed boxes work great.
Even fine silver tarnishes, so a dark film is not a sign of poor-quality jewelry.
Jewelry stored the right way is jewelry you need to clean far less often.
It’s worth mentioning that silver jewelry is sometimes darkened on purpose. This is called oxidized silver. The treatment gives it an elegant look and more character.
So it’s worth making sure you’re dealing with unwanted tarnish.
Oxidized silver jewelry needs slightly different care, as does gold-plated jewelry, since gold behaves differently from silver — but that’s a topic for another article. Here, we’ve looked at why silver tarnishes, why it darkens around the neck and what makes silver turn black in general. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to deal with.
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