How to Clean Silver Jewellery

This week's 'How to Tuesday' comes from Anne-Marie of Handmade by Amo'r.

When sterling silver tarnishes naturally, it can look rather dark and dirty. You can buy commercial dips for cleaning it, but making your own cleanser is a bit more fun and probably cheaper.
The old trick of dipping jewellery into cola or scrubbing with toothpaste gives me the heebie jeebies. While you might get away with it sometimes, these methods are too harsh for most jewellery so it’s not worth risking your treasured baubles and bling.


I find a bread soda solution works perfectly on silver and it is very quick and easy. Do not use it on pearls, gemstones, amber or wood. However, glass or plastic beads will be ok. This should not be done by children as there is a danger of scalding.

So stick on your alchemist’s bib, sorcerer's cape or failing these, a witch’s hat, and let’s get started...

First slap on the kettle to boil while you gather up a non-metallic bowl (e.g. glass or plastic,) a pack of bread soda, a wooden or plastic spoon or similar and some kitchen foil, aka tin foil or aluminium paper. Crumple the foil a little bit and place in the bottom of the bowl, shiny side up.

Spread the jewellery over the foil, ensuring as much contact is made between the foil and the components as you can. Shake enough bread soda on top to cover the pieces.

Here comes the fun bit. Very carefully pour an inch of hot water over the lot and it will bubble up like a witch’s cauldron. Best have the window open as it does smell like wing of bat mixed with rotten egg. The first shot I got of this process in action captured nothing but a cloud of steam. I lost a few precious moments cleaning the lens but if you look closely at this pic, you might catch a glimpse of the bubbles just before they calmed down.

Use a wooden or plastic utensil to flip pieces over and nudge them into the foil.


It only takes a few moments for the jewellery to brighten up. Taking care not to scald yourself, tip the items out into a sieve so as not to lose any and rinse in cool water. Pat dry with a cloth. Tada! All shiny and new. Maintain your silver jewellery in between cleans with a silver polishing cloth, available at any jewellers.

To clean copper, read this article. I’ll be back soon with an overview on caring for various types of jewellery.