Saturday, September 01, 2007
Caring for Your Antique Sterling Jewelry
If you collect old sterling or other gold and silver items, you need to know how to keep then in pristine condition. The silver cleaner dips may be great for some silver items but can actually damage old silver and is especially damaging to old jewelry that has been treated with a gold wash or that has a silver or gold plating. Silver cleaning wipes can be used quite effectively anywhere and will not remove the darker tarnish areas in the patterns which makes antique silver so charming. Always use a soft cloth to prevent scratching even if you polish with a paste like Maas Metal Cleaner. Some gemstones can also be damaged by harsh cleaners so avoid getting the polish on gemstones. Dishwashing liquid is usually all that is needed to bring back the sparkle in gemstones and semi-precious stones.
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2 comments:
Good information. And made me feel guilty--I NEED to polish my silver!!! I've used Tarnex on some things--I didn't know it could damage some of the older stuff and I do have some pretty old stuff. Guess I'd better do it the hard, way, huh? What brand of wipes do you use and are they appropriate for old silver?
Thanks for sharing this information. This applies to new silver jewelry also. I use the dry silver wipes and have very good luck using them.
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