Apply a tiny dab of white paste toothpaste (not gel) to your finger or a soft cloth and very gently rub it on the tarnished silver. Then, rinse well with warm water and buff to a shine with a soft cloth.
It is a common myth that toothpaste is a good way to clean your jewellery. This is actually false. Toothpaste can damage your diamonds, gemstones, gold and silver. Toothpaste is abrasive and has a hardness of around 3/4 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness.
Dish Detergent & Warm Water
The best homemade jewelry cleaning solution is a mixture of a few drops of Dawn dish detergent in warm, not hot, water. Let the piece sit in the solution for a few minutes, longer if it's very dirty, then gently scrub with a new, baby-size, soft toothbrush.
Jewelers use ultrasonic cleaners with high frequency sound waves and chemicals, which create bubbles that latch on to the dirt on the diamond. The high frequency sound waves pull the dirt away from the stone and bring them up to the surface.
Clean Silver Jewelry with Toothpaste: A small amount of diluted toothpaste and a soft-bristle brush can do wonders for cleaning sterling silver jewelry. Just make sure the toothpaste is not a whitening formula.
Final Verdict. Our top pick is Goddard's Silver Polish Foam for its overall cleaning power that works on a variety of silver items. We also like that it's a long-lasting product that removes tarnish and leaves silver sparkling.
Another great way to clean your sterling silver jewelry is with Windex. Yes… Windex. You can either spray the Windex directly on the item to be cleaned or on a soft-bristled toothbrush or soft cloth.
When cleaning the whole piece of jewelry, the jeweler typically washes it under a strong blast of steam to get rid of all the grime and dirt. Also, it is widely accepted that steam brightens further up the metal.
A: Yes, cleaning jewelry with baking soda and vinegar is pretty simple. Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and two tablespoons of baking soda in a small bowl. Allow your jewelry to soak in the white vinegar and baking soda solution for a few hours.
Dawn dish soap is safe and effective at cleaning jewelry. Just add a few drops to a warm basin of water and let your jewelry soak for 15-30 minutes. Then remove it from the basin and gently brush with a clean, soft-bristled toothbrush to get grime out of the grooves. Finally, rinse and dry.
The higher your toothpaste ranks, the more abrasive. Generally, dentists recommend choosing nonabrasive toothpaste that ranks 69 or below on the scale. Any toothpaste that ranks at 70 or above is considered to be too abrasive.
Simply pour the coke into a bowl and submerge your silver into it. The acid in the coke will quickly remove the tarnish. Keep an eye on it – just a few minutes should be enough. Rinse with warm water and dry carefully with a soft cloth.
Use dish soap and warm water for most metals, gems, and crystals. “Most jewelry, whether it's a diamond or rose quartz, can be safely cleaned with dish soap and warm water,” said McKenzie Santimer, museum manager and designer at the Gemological Institute of America.
Fill with enough boiling water to submerge your chain. Add 1 tbsp of bicarbonate of soda per 500ml water. Add your chain and leave to soak for up to 30 minutes. Remove from the bath, rinse away any residues and buff with a soft lint free cloth to remove any remaining tarnish.
Tip. Never use toothpaste, baking soda, or a commercial metal cleaner on gold. If you use these abrasives, you may scratch the gold. Never use bleach.
Tarn-Off Silver Cleaner is the best product to use on silver that is discoloured, tarnished or darkened.
The key to cleaning silver without damaging it is to avoid abrasion. Cleaning silver with harsh abrasive products like chlorine bleach, or storing it using rubber bands and newspaper, is a no-no.
Pour ½ cup of white vinegar into a bowl, and add two tablespoons of baking soda. As the mixture froths up, pop in your silver jewelry and let it sit for two to three hours. Remove from the mixture, rinse, dry, and slip your shimmering jewelry on!