Silver is a soft metal that requires ongoing cleaning to maintain its original luster, and proper storage to prevent scratches. Any jewelry or other item made with silver will change color over time due to a natural oxidation process with sulfides in the air. This can cause items to turn yellow, and then eventually darken to black over time.  

There are several easy tricks of the trade that professional jewelers have developed to maintain the beauty of silver jewelry.

Proper Sterling Silver Storage
While it’s tempting to wear a favorite piece all the time, you should always remove your jewelry before using any type of product with chemicals or abrasives such as chlorine, bleach, ammonia, alcohol, turpentine or acetone. That includes finger nail polish, dish detergent, makeup, and even hair spray! Many of these products can permanently damage the silver as well as gemstones.

Dampness, air, and light can cause a piece to tarnish so the optimal method for storing sterling silver jewelry is in an airtight non-reactive container such as a box lined with special non-tarnish material or Mylar or polyethylene bag. Each piece of jewelry should be placed in its own bag so it does not rub up against anything which could potentially cause scratches, kinks in chains, or the damage of a gemstone.

Never place your sterling jewelry on wood surfaces as most wood contains acids which can damage the finish. Card board and paper can also speed up the tarnishing process.

Cleaning Your Silver Jewelry
The more often you clean each piece the easier it is, and the less wear and tear on your jewelry, because the tarnish is minimal which allows for safer cleaning methods.

Silver is a soft metal that can be scratched so be careful to rub gently when cleaning. Never use anything but a clean nub free cotton or flannel cloth, a special sterling silver cleaning cloth, or a very soft bristle brush like a baby’s toothbrush or a horsehair silver brush.  

To remove light dirt, fingerprints or makeup just use a couple drops of mild liquid detergent (such as baby shampoo or Woolite) in a cup of warm water and rinse thoroughly with clean fresh water. Dry it completely and lightly buff with a cotton cloth. Always use a lengthwise motion when washing or drying your jewelry, as a circular motion often causes scratching.

The safest method for removing tarnish is to use a treated silver buffing cloth, but there are a number of silver spray polish or pastes that can work well for heavy cleanings if there is a large tarnish build up. To achieve the best results apply the spray or paste on the cloth and work into lather with your hand first. Tarnish in hard to reach areas can be left on to create an antique look and add definition to the jewelry. If you prefer to clean the entire piece you can have it professionally done, or use a soft bristle brush.

Sterling silver dips can be fast and easy but are not recommended by professional silversmiths and jewelers. If using a silver dip it is better to insert the item and remove it quickly, repeating after rinsing with water, rather than leaving the item in the dip for long periods of time. Follow up by buffing with a soft cotton cloth. If you leave the piece in too long, or don’t rinse it well enough with fresh water, a white residue will be left which can be difficult to remove.

Should you purchase a cleaner or dip, ensure that the product is designed for the type of jewelry item you want to clean. Dipping is not recommended for liquid silver or silver items with gemstones, and even paste or spray cleaners remove the natural luster of stones so be sure to remove any trace of cleaner residue and rinse each item thoroughly with clean water.

Additional Jewelry Cleaning Tips
Baking soda is often mentioned a cleaner but some jewelers claim that this method is to abrasive. If you wish to avoid using chemicals and want to try baking soda you should always test a small part of your silver jewelry piece first to see if leaves any noticeable marks. To use baking soda, lightly the item with clean water, the pour baking soda over the jewelry and rub gently with your fingers. Once the tarnish is removed, rinse with more clean water and dry with an all cotton cloth.

If your jewelry has been coated with a lacquer shield (to slow the tarnishing process) you should clean the item only after all of the lacquer has completely worn off. Cleaning agents can reach underneath the lacquer causing residue spotting.

Professional jewelers recommend cleaning your sterling silver jewelry as often as once per month, with a yearly professional cleaning for luxury and heirloom pieces. Cleaning gives you the chance to also check for loose stones or parts. Always have your jewelry repaired right away to prevent further damage.

Understanding the proper methods for storing and cleaning sterling silver jewelry is essential to the life of each piece.

Have you seen similar silver jewelry sold at price difference of two to three times from different retailers? Have you ever wondered how retailers mark up the jewelry after they get them from the venders? Here we will show you the wholesale trading secrets of sterling silver jewelry.

Price per gram
The most important piece of information for determining the price of a piece of sterling silver jewelry is the price per gram of the silver. This is the fundamental raw material cost of a piece of sterling silver jewelry due to the fact that silver is considered a precious metal. For instance, the price for silver is $9.5 per ounce, the price per gram is determined by dividing the price per ounce by 31.5, which is 30 cents. Therefore, the cost for the raw material for a 5 gram wedding band ring is roughly $1.5. Some might wonder why people would pay $30 for a silver wedding ring when the silver only cost $1.5. The followings will explain the difference.

Labor cost
To turn raw material into finished goods, it involves a great deal of processing cost. The metal itself has to be melted, molded and cast, polished and assembled. Most of the times, silver jewelry is accented with various stones, the costs for setting the stones are also a major part of the total cost for jewelry, especially for jewelry that requires high level of craftsmanship.

Other materials
Also, the costs for any additional material are added to the jewelry. For instance, a pair silver pearl dangle earrings that has two cultural fresh water pearls with rhodium finish should cost double the price of the silver to make because of the cost of the pearl and rhodium. Note that rhodium is even more expensive than silver itself and it is high tarnish resistant.

Shipping cost
Many styles of jewelry are imported from other countries because of difference in availability of raw materials such as stones and also the specialties in making some particular styles. Hence the shipping cost of transporting is also part of the cost. Usually, for imported sterling silver jewelry, the shipping cost can amount to 10% of what it costs to make the jewelry themselves.

Custom Duties
For the same reasons, imported jewelry incurs duties at the custom. This is a cost that normal consumers are not aware of but it can also increase the price of sterling silver jewelry for 5% to 10%.

Price fluctuations
Some sterling silver jewelry trader, especially wholesaler would associate the price of the jewelry with the current silver price. Therefore, the price of a piece of sterling silver jewelry might be different from month to month, and even day to day in the case of wholesale.

Business Overhead
Just like any other business, the sales have to cover also the overhead of running the business. Normal overhead costs are employees’ salaries, rent, utilities and breakage.

Profit
Of course, the price you pay includes the profit for the sellers.

By knowing the above facts, you can make much more informed decisions when buying wholesale sterling silver jewelry and most importantly, avoid scams. There are occasions when people make fake silver jewelry and sell them at a very low price. If you know how to determine the cost of a piece of silver jewelry, you won’t buy into deals where they offer you a price that is lower than the normal cost of real sterling silver jewelry.

Watch the video related to silver jewelry

Silver jewelry is best cleaned with something that isn’t too abrasive, such as a mixture of baking soda and water that won’t scratch the metal or stones. Discover why chemicals or toxic cleaning agents are bad for cleaning silver withhelp from a professional house cleaner in this free video on jewelry cleaning tips. Expert: Rachel Yatuzis Contact: www.greenkleeninc.com Bio: Rachel Yatuzis is a professional house cleaner in Nashville, Tenn., specializing in using everyday household items for …

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Greg Peterson got his MBA from MIT business school and is now working as marketing manager for jewelry distributors featuring wholesale sterling silver jewelry and wholesale hip hop jewelry featuring cubic zirconia stones.