Below are a couple of recipes you can try in your own kitchen to clean your silver jewelry. The “Super Cleaner” works especially well for the earcuffs since you can just drop them into a small jar and shake! Both work very well. Of course, always work safely.
Make sure the kids or family pet is kept away from such poisons as ammonia and the stovetop.
DO NOT put anything but sterling silver items (no plated materials) into the cleaning solution.
DO NOT put any porous stones (turquoise), shells (mother of pearl), or pearls (cultured, freshwater) into the solution.
Use your common sense. When in doubt, don’t do it.
Super Cleaner
In an eight ounce container (pickle jars work well), combine one inch of cleaning detergent (Top Job or Mr. Clean), one inch of dish washing liquid, and one inch of ammonia. Fill the rest of the container with water. Shake well. Use your microwave to heat up solution slightly or put in an old pot (you don’t use for food) and simmer on stove top. Place jewelry (silver or gold) into solution and let sit for about ten minutes. Remove from solution and rinse with water. That’s it.
You can use this cleaner to also clean your gold jewelry, though since this metal doesn’t oxidize you don’t have to clean it as much as you do with silver.
Electrolytic Cleaning Solution:
Ingredients:
¼ cup baking soda
¼ cup salt
¼ cup liquid dish soap
½ gallon of water
Equipment:
Large pot
Aluminum foil
Plastic spoon
Stove top
colander or strainer
towel
Take a large pot, such as a spaghetti pot, and line the inside with aluminum foil. Pour all of the ingredients into the pot and stir with your plastic spoon. Collect the sterling silver jewelry you want to clean and count each item so you know the total number you put into the pot. Place them into the solution. Bring this to a low boil for a few minutes. Then turn off the burner and let it sit for another couple of minutes. Then using the colander or strainer, pour out the solution. Rinse with cold water. Count your items as you place them on a towel to dry. Make sure you’ve account for all your jewelry before you throw away the aluminum. It will be dirty because the oxides on your jewelry were transferred to it. Your sterling silver jewelry should now look like new.
