How to clean sterling silver jewelry well comes down to one habit: look at the finish before you look at the tarnish. Many of our rings, pendants and chains are oxidized on purpose: the recesses are darkened so the skulls, scales and links stand out. For light tarnish, a silver polishing cloth is what we recommend, oxidized pieces included: a few light passes over the raised silver, kept out of the recesses. Warm, soapy water is fine now and then for grime, as long as the piece dries completely. Dips and foil baths take the black out with the tarnish, so they're only for pieces you want bright all over.
Key Takeaway
A few light passes with a silver polishing cloth take light tarnish off the raised silver and leave the dark recesses alone; hard rubbing can lighten the black over time. Soap and a soft brush clean off dirt and residue but leave tarnish where it is. Dips and the foil bath clear the black out of the recesses too. Every polish takes a little silver with it, so clean when a piece needs it, not on a schedule.
First, Work Out What You're Looking At
Three different things make silver look dark, and each one needs a different fix.
| What you see | What it is | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A dull, greyish film, often with fingerprints | Grime: skin oils, dirt and soap residue | Wash with mild soap and a soft brush |
| A yellow-brown to black haze across the smooth, raised surfaces | Tarnish, mostly black silver sulfide | Wipe those surfaces lightly with a silver cloth |
| Black only in the recesses, with clean edges | The deliberate oxidized finish | Keep it: light cloth passes on the raised silver, no dips |
Tarnish on sterling silver is mostly black silver sulfide, with some copper sulfide, formed when sulfur-containing gases such as hydrogen sulfide reach the metal. Damp air speeds it up, according to the Canadian Conservation Institute. The dark finish in a skull ring's eye sockets is darkened silver too, put there on purpose. So treat it like tarnish you want to keep. Our guide to oxidized silver explains how that finish differs from tarnish and how it ages.
For Grime: Warm Soapy Water Now and Then
For grime rather than tarnish, this wash is fine now and then, oxidized pieces included. The Gemological Institute of America suggests warm, soapy water for metals that are oxidized or antique. The Canadian Conservation Institute calls a detergent wash safe for most silver, as long as any non-metal parts stay dry.
Soak in warm, soapy water
Add a few drops of mild dish soap to a bowl of warm water. Silver restorer Jeffrey Herman specifies a phosphate-free detergent without lemon scent. A few minutes loosens grime and soap film.
Brush gently
On a sterling silver ring, work a soft toothbrush around the eye sockets and between the teeth; on a chain, follow the links. Light strokes are enough, because the brush only has to loosen grime.
Rinse, pat dry, then air-dry
Rinse in clean water, shake water out of any hollow or hinged part, and pat the piece dry with a soft cotton cloth. Warm air from a hair dryer clears water out of deep grooves. Let it dry completely before it goes back in its pouch.
This wash is a cleaning step. Tarnish comes off separately, and only where you want it gone.
Polishing: A Silver Cloth, Light Pressure, Raised Silver Only
A silver polishing cloth is the tool for tarnish, on plain and oxidized pieces alike: smooth bands, polished chains, the raised parts of a skull or a dragon. Use light pressure. The Canadian Conservation Institute's silver care note says polishing cloths are impregnated with an abrasive, gentler than a liquid or paste polish, and that every polishing takes away a little of the silver under the tarnish.
On an oxidized ring, pendant or chain, keep the cloth on the high points (the skull's brow, the dragon's scales, the outer face of each link) and out of the recesses. A few light passes usually bring the shine back. Press hard or work the cloth into the grooves and it can lighten the dark finish over time.
If you'd rather not polish at all, a plain, untreated soft cloth only lifts fingerprints, and silver restorer Jeffrey Herman recommends an untreated cloth for this kind of work.
Every jewelry order we ship includes one SilverBlue polishing cloth, 11 × 16 cm, and it's the cloth we recommend for our oxidized pieces. If you go through them, the SilverBlue polishing cloth 25-pack covers a long while.
How to Clean a Sterling Silver Chain
Chains collect more grime than rings because every link is a joint. Byzantine, wheat and Cuban weaves hold skin oil and soap, and a heavy wallet chain picks up whatever your jeans do. Whether you're working out how to clean a silver chain, a silver necklace or a heavy wallet chain, the cloth and the occasional wash work the same way, just with more patience.
- Soak the chain in the soapy water and brush along its length so the bristles follow the links.
- Open and close each clasp and swivel under running water to flush soap out of the spring.
- Lay the chain straight on a towel, pat it dry section by section, and let it air-dry before you coil it.
- Polish only the outer faces of the links. On oxidized links, the dark between them is part of the design.
Keep water off any leather. On a braided leather wallet chain or a cord with silver end caps, wipe the metal with a damp cloth and dry it, and leave the leather alone. Our sterling silver wallet chains run up to 300 grams of linked silver, so a flat cloth and a little patience pay off there most.
Dips and the Foil Bath: For Plain, All-Silver Pieces
Two methods remove heavy tarnish without rubbing. Both take the black out of the recesses along with it.
Silver dips dissolve tarnish chemically. Jeffrey Herman warns that they dissolve "the tarnish (and silver!)" and strip factory-applied patinas. The Canadian Conservation Institute advises keeping exposure as short as possible to avoid pitting, never dipping pieces with sealed hollow parts, and notes that dipped objects "often look 'new' because there is no tarnish left in the deeper recesses of the design."
The foil bath puts the silver in contact with aluminum in a hot alkaline solution. The Canadian Conservation Institute describes it with washing soda (sodium carbonate); home versions often use baking soda. The tarnish turns back into silver, but that silver stays on the surface as rough particles, which leaves a dull, matte finish that needs a light polish afterward. Jeffrey Herman notes that it strips factory-applied patinas too, so on an oxidized ring it clears the recesses as well. Herman advises against dips and the foil bath alike, and the Canadian Conservation Institute notes that silver cleaned in a foil bath may tarnish more quickly than polished silver.
⚠️ Before you dip or soak: use either method only on solid, all-silver pieces with no stones, gold accents, leather or glued parts, and only when you want the whole surface bright. Afterwards, a stripped piece is simply plain sterling again, and cleaning won't bring the dark finish back.
Stones, Gold Accents and Leather
- Stone eyes and settings: soap and a soft brush, worked around the setting rather than across it. GIA warns that ultrasonic vibration can shake stones loose, and it lists treated, fracture-filled, organic and heat-sensitive stones, opal and turquoise among them, as unsuitable for ultrasonic cleaners.
- Gold-plated or gold-tone accents: keep the polishing cloth off them. The Canadian Conservation Institute warns that polishes damage gilding.
- Leather bands and cords: keep liquids off the leather and clean the silver parts locally with a barely damp cloth, then dry them.
What to Keep Away From Your Silver
- Can you clean silver with toothpaste? No, and the same goes for baking-soda paste. Jeffrey Herman is blunt: "Toothpaste should NEVER be used as a silver polish," because some contain baking soda or other ingredients that are "much too abrasive."
- General metal polishes. The Canadian Conservation Institute says multi-purpose metal polishes are more abrasive than silver polishes and remove more silver. It also notes that many commercial silver polishes contain ammonia, which dissolves the copper in sterling silver.
- Showers, pools and the sea. GIA notes that frequent exposure to moisture can accelerate tarnishing, "especially if the water contains chlorine or other harsh chemicals." We don't recommend wearing our silver in water: take it off before the shower, the pool or the sea, and dry it if it gets splashed.
Store It So You Clean Less
Prevention beats polishing, because each cleaning takes a little silver with it. Every piece we sell comes in a black drawstring pouch: keep it there when you're not wearing it, one piece to a pouch, so heavy links don't scratch polished faces. Pouches aren't airtight, so for long storage the Canadian Conservation Institute's advice is to seal each piece in its own polyethylene bag, ideally with a small packet of silica gel or a tarnish-inhibiting cloth; at home, a zip-seal bag with the air pressed out does the job. Keep silver away from rubber bands and wool felt, which the Canadian Conservation Institute lists among materials that give off tarnishing gases, and store it below 50% relative humidity where you can.
Skin oils and salts mark silver as well, so a quick wipe with a soft, dry cloth after wearing stops fingerprints from setting in. For why tarnish forms in the first place, see why does silver turn black?
Frequently Asked Questions
Will cleaning remove the black from my skull ring?
Not if the cloth stays on the raised silver. Soap, water and a soft brush only lift grime, and a few light passes with a silver polishing cloth leave the recesses dark; hard rubbing can lighten the finish over time. Silver dips and the foil bath remove the black wherever the liquid reaches, so keep oxidized rings, pendants and chains out of both.
Can I put sterling silver jewelry in an ultrasonic cleaner?
We don't recommend it for our pieces. GIA warns that ultrasonic vibration can shake stones loose and lists treated, fracture-filled, organic and heat-sensitive stones, such as opal and turquoise, as unsuitable. For oxidized or antique metal, GIA suggests warm, soapy water instead, the occasional wash described above.
How often should I clean sterling silver?
Whenever it looks dull or grimy, not on a timetable. A soap wash now and then takes care of grime. Polishing and dips each remove a little silver, the Canadian Conservation Institute notes, so use the cloth with light pressure and only when the raised silver looks dull.
Looking for a piece to look after? Our skull rings are where this routine earns its keep: light passes with the cloth on the high points, a soap wash now and then, and the dark detail stays where the maker put it.