Caring for your Silver

You have invested your hard-earned pennies into a beautiful piece of jewellery and will want it to stay in a good condition.

Unless otherwise stated when you purchase a piece of jewellery from Halton Village Silver, the item will be made of .925 Sterling silver and occasionally may have fine silver components.

Plain silver items

Plain silver items with no gemstones would benefit from a gentle wash in warm soapy water, a mild washing up liquid is fine. This will remove any surface grease and dirt. Be sure to dry the item well, before storing and only use a very soft cloth to do this. I sometimes pop items on the top of a warm radiator to make sure they are fully dry, or in my dehydrator!

If a little more is needed, then you can use a soft bristles brush but with much caution.

If you have not cleaned your jewellery for some time, you may find it has tarnished a little. A good silver specific polish can be used with an exceptionally soft cloth to remove this. Silver cleaning cloths are a fabulous investment if you have more than one piece of silver jewellery, soft cloths impregnated with silver polish, simply clean away!

Always remember that it is easier to clean your items little and often than having to remove lots of tarnish.

There are lots of recommendations that you might hear about using slightly abrasive substances for example toothpaste, please don’t do this unless you are confident in its use as you are most likely to just end up with a lot of new little scratches.

Please avoid;

• Washing your hands or showering with your jewellery on.

• Swimming or sunbathing in your silver

• Exercising with it on

Storing silver.

The very best way to store silver is to wear it! Silver stays at its best when you wear it regularly.

Silver likes cool, dry, dark conditions to live in - its a bit of a mushroom when it comes to this!

Dry is probably the most important, and there are things you can use to help keep your jewellery box moisture free. Keep the little “Do not eat” silica bags that come with your new shoes and pop them in to your jewellery box.

Little moisture trap tabs are available which can be added, please read the instructions with the ones you have as they will need renewing. The ones I use last for 6 months at a time and are made by Town Talk, which are widely available.

Little plastic bags that seal well are a good idea for keeping things clean and dry