If you are like me, you love pretty shiny jewelry, but don't love keeping it clean. Silver, especially sterling silver tarnishes easily. Air and water are the kryptonite to Sterling’s superman.
But when it comes to water, surprisingly pure H2O isn't the culprit.
It's the contaminants and chemicals that are the culprits. And some water is better than others. Here's a breakdown of some places you should not wear your jewelry.
Oceans - salt water is bad for jewelry, just don't do it.
Pools/Hot tubs - both have chlorine (FYI - hot tubs have more than pools, cuz you know hot tubs...) and that tarnishes sterling very easily. If you forget to take them off, try to get to a sink fast and wash with soap and water, dry thoroughly.
Hot Springs - If you are near one, good for you, enjoy! But take your jewelry off. They contain sulfur. Bad for silver.
Showers - This is the least bad. It's ok once in a while, but try not to make it a habit. And make sure you dry your jewelry right away. Dry jewelry is happy jewelry. And pretty jewelry.
I never wear my jewelry near water, mostly because as much as I love making jewelry, my hands and feet swell in hot temps. So if I’m at the beach/pool/or hot spring, I’m probably already uncomfortable and wearing jewelry isn’t helping. Also, I’m super lazy about cleaning it.
Moral of this story you ask? Well just take your sterling silver jewelry off before you get wet. And if you are the type that likes to be blinged out in a bathing suit (or your birthday suit) get yourself some inexpensive costume jewelry, that way, you can be lazy about cleaning your jewelry w/out worry of ruining it. You spend your money on pretty jewelry, you should keep it that way.
The air isn't good for sterling silver either, but it's the turtle in this race.
Air will tarnish sterling silver over time, it just takes longer than water. It gets 'grayer" in color or duller then darker. You should try and remember to keep your sterling silver jewelry in a sealed container of some sort. A jewelry box or bag, as long as it has an air tight seal.
Something on the lines of this is good but not perfect. You need air tight seals for keeping tarnish from creeping in. I keep all of my jewelry in anti tarnish bags and check often to make sure the seal is closed tight.
In a pinch a ziplock bag will work, but zip it half way then push out all the air in the bag and seal. I don't suggest using a regular ziplock bag for long periods of time, but in a pinch it's a good option.
All of THD purchases come with an anti tarnish bag from Intercept that provides protection from tarnish for up to 3 years if used whenever jewelry is not being worn.
I also sell 4 packs of anti tarnish bags on my site if you could not be bothered like me.
https://truehappinessdesigns.com/products/anti-tarnish-bags
I find they work pretty well. Then I only need to clean my jewelry once or twice a year. Works for me cuz again I am lazy.
Look out for the next blog post on easy ways to clean silver jewelry.
Thanks for sticking with me.
