Silver Jewellery Care Guide

Silver Jewellery Care Guide and Advice

Tulip Jewellery is made from 925 sterling silver. A beautiful precious metal that does need a little love and care to keep it at it's best.

Tarnish is caused by a reaction with sulphur that naturally occurs in the air. Tarnished silver will turn a darkish grey-black colour and is most easily removed when it first becomes visible.

Sterling silver will naturally tarnish with exposure to the air, environment, perfumes, moisturisers, hairspray, soaps and perspiration etc. These are obviously a fact of life so regular cleaning will help keep your silver sparkling.

5 easy ways to keep your silver jewellery at it's brilliant best:

  • Make accessorising the last finishing touch – Select your jewellery after you have applied make-up, perfume and hairspray to avoid unnecessary contact with these chemicals.
  • Do not swim or shower in your jewellery.
  • Remove your jewellery before exercising - wrestling with a wayward necklace mid downward dog is not a good look anyway!
  • You may want to show off your jewellery on the beach but the direct sunlight, sand and salt water won't do it any favours, save it to wow when having cocktails later.
  • Storage is king! Continue reading for our guide to putting your jewellery to bed.

Cleaning your Sterling Silver Jewellery

Your silver jewellery will love:

Silver jewellery with no gemstones or pearls can be washed in warm water with a mild detergent. Completely dry with a soft lint free, or nonabrasive cloth before storing. Please don't use your kitchen paper towel to dry as this can scratch your silver!

If you have discovered some older Sterling Silver jewellery that has been unloved for a while, you can lavish it with warm soapy water and gently use a soft natural bristle toothbrush to clean, dry throughly as above.

If you need something a little more robust try a polish specifically for silver like Silvo (i.e not Brasso or pledge!). Simply shake well, apply with a soft cloth and leave to dry. Gently rub off with a clean soft cloth and get ready to discover some serious sparkle.

Specialist silver polishing cloths are also ideal companions to your jewellery. 100% cotton infused with special silver cleaners. These clever silver dusters will help bring your jewellery back to life on a daily basis, essentially lifting off dirt, grease and fingerprints. Simply rub over your jewellery...and voila gleaming jewellery!

And 2 things your silver jewellery should run screaming from...

Silver Dips - we don't recommend the use of silver 'dips' or liquids as these work by dissolving the silver sulphide and can damage the surface of the silver and wear it down over time. Even though cleaners might give a temporary shine, the pieces will tarnish much more quickly and have to be cleaned more frequently once you have broken down the surface.

Toothpaste – Being a mild abrasive it can help to eliminate minor scratches but if not used properly we have found it can damage and scratch your silver and leave a dull film. A safer option for removing scratches on your jewellery is to have it professionally polished.

Storing your Sterling Silver Jewellery

  • Sterling Silver loves somewhere cool, dark and moisture free to live.
  • Give your jewellery a little love with a silver polishing cloth after wearing and before putting away.
  • Fasten all of your chains to stop them getting tangled, always fasten any extender chains on the last hole.
  • Store your jewellery in an airtight jewellery box or even in little airtight ziplock bags or soft pouches and always separately as they can scratch each other. 


Oh and don't throw away those little bags of Silica you get in your lovely new handbag, they are great moisture zappers so pop a couple in your jewellery box.

Wonderfully silver that is regularly used typically needs less care, so a great reason to wear your beautiful pieces regularly.