How to clean silver with ammonia (ammonia): effective methods

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Author of the article

Svetlana Pavlikhina

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It often happens that your favorite silver jewelry begins to darken. Why does blackness appear on metal? How to remove dark plaque? Many people have these questions.

Cleaning silver using ammonia is a popular and effective way to return your jewelry to its original appearance. For this, other components that do not negatively affect this metal can be used.

Why does silver darken?

Silver items often tarnish. This can happen several years after purchasing the jewelry or as early as the next week after wearing a ring or chain.

Silver oxidizes when sweat comes into contact with it. It contains amino acids and salts, as well as sulfur, under the influence of which jewelry begins to turn black.

Reasons why silver darkens:

• excessive human sweating;
• hormonal changes;
• admixture of other components in silver, in particular copper;
• use of cosmetics;
• use of certain medications;
• settling of dirt and dust on silver;
• metal quality.

The following factors also affect the rate of blackening of the product:

• humidity and air composition;
• frequent contact with dirty water;
• product surface shape;
• some household chemicals;
• contact with products such as egg yolk, salt, onion;
• friction against clothing made of synthetic material;
• silver sample.

Jewelry made from this metal can be cleaned from blackness.

Precautionary measures

It must be remembered that when cleaning jewelry with ammonia, precautions should be taken. This substance is a powerful solvent and has a strong odor, so it can be harmful to health .

When working with ammonia, you must adhere to the following rules:

1. Do not allow skin contact with the solution. It is advisable to work with the substance wearing rubber gloves.
2. It is not allowed to breathe ammonia vapors, so cleaning must be done with a respirator or a face covering.
3. If the solution accidentally gets on the mucous membranes, you should rinse them with water. If necessary, you should seek medical help.

4. 
   It is best to use tweezers to remove silver from solution.

5. After cleaning, the product should be rinsed thoroughly to avoid causing skin burns or poisoning.
6. After processing silver, it is necessary to ventilate the room.

If the product is made of gold-plated silver, then it is not recommended to use ammonia solution. For jewelry with stones, the dose of ammonia should be reduced.

Effective cleaning methods

At home, you can clean silver with ammonia using the following components:

• water;
• dentifrice;
• hydrogen peroxide.

They are the most effective for cleaning silver jewelry from tarnish.

Ammonia and water

To prepare the product, take ammonia and clean water in a ratio of 1:10. The solution is mixed well.

Cleaning algorithm:

1. 
   Place the products in a container with the solution and leave for 30 minutes. If the silver is very black, you can soak it for an hour, but no more.

2. Remove the jewelry using tweezers and wipe with a dry cloth.
3. Silver should be rinsed well under running water and cleaned until shiny.

In case of a small dark deposit, you can soak a piece of flannel or woolen cloth in the solution and wipe the decoration.

In case of strong blackness, it is recommended to use ammonia diluted in water in a ratio of 1:4.

With tooth powder or paste

You can quickly remove dirt with powder. However, if there are stones on the product, then this method is undesirable.

To do this, take the following ingredients:

• ammonia - 1 tbsp;
• warm water – 2 tablespoons;
• tooth powder - half a tablespoon.

You can use paste. The components are mixed and proceed to cleaning:

1. Soak a sponge in the mixture and thoroughly wipe the decoration.
2. After removing contamination, rinse the product under running warm water.
3. Wipe with a soft cloth.

Strong blackness can be removed as follows: apply the product to the brush and thoroughly clean the surface of the jewelry.

Recipe with hydrogen peroxide

Cleaning procedure:

1. 1 tbsp. Dilute peroxide and ammonia in 0.5 liters of warm water.
2. Immerse the decoration in the solution for 20 minutes.
3. Wash the product well with water.
4. Polish with a clean and dry cloth.

It is also recommended to add a little liquid baby soap to this mixture. It can also be replaced with detergent.

How to clean a silver chain with ammonia

The largest number of sweat glands are located on the human chest. During active physical activity and stress, intense sweating occurs, which has a very aggressive effect on silver, leading to its blackening.

The complexity of the weaving has a significant influence on the darkening of the chain. The presence of a large number of places where various contaminants, residues of soap, creams, and other cosmetics collect. In this case, the toothbrush becomes an ineffective tool and an additional procedure is required.

After finishing the boiling process, fill a liquid soap bottle with no more than 100 grams of hot water and add about 50 ml of detergent. Place the chain, close the lid tightly and stir vigorously for 5 - 10 minutes. Remove from the bottle and rinse with running water. As a result, we not only got rid of dirt, but also returned the original shine to the chain.

If you carry out this cleaning procedure regularly, your jewelry will always delight the eye with its beautiful snow-white cleanliness. The results of this cleaning method can be seen by watching the video.

How to restore shine after cleaning

The metal may be cleared of dark deposits, but lose its shine. In this case, the following will help:

• lemon juice;
• baking soda;
• powdered milk.

You can also add shine using foil.

Baking soda

Baking soda can also restore the shine of a dull item. For this:

1. Make a thick mixture of water and soda.
2. Polish the surface with a toothbrush and product.
3. Wash in warm water and dry with a napkin.

The product can be boiled in water with the addition of soda. This should be done for no more than 10 minutes.

In order for the ring to shine perfectly, you should rinse the jewelry very thoroughly after baking soda.

Foil

For this method you will need:

• water – 0.5 l;
• 2 sheets of foil;
• salt – 2 tbsp.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. 
   Salt is dissolved in water and boiled.

2. Add foil and stir.
3. The decoration is kept in the solution for several minutes.
4. The product washes well.

In some sources you can find the same method, only without adding salt.

Lemon juice

If the product has become dull after cleaning, its shine can be restored in the following way:

1. Squeeze juice from one lemon.
2. Soak a sponge in the liquid.
3. Wipe the silver well.
4. Wash the jewelry under water.
5. Dry with a dry cloth.

If you do this at least once a week, the metal will not darken.

Powdered milk

You can restore the shine and purity of silver using powdered milk. It is diluted with water to the consistency of sour cream, and carefully applied to the product with a toothbrush.

After this procedure, leave the jewelry for a few minutes, then rinse the item in clean water and dry with a paper towel.

You can clean silver with regular milk, only sour milk. To do this, the product is placed in liquid for 2-3 hours.

How to clean silver with stones using ammonia

Stones are the soul of jewelry; unfortunately, they very quickly lose their wonderful shine even with the slightest contamination, so they also need regular care. The vast majority of silver jewelry contains synthetic inserts; there are no warnings here.

After boiling in the solution, you need to carefully remove any remaining dirt using a toothbrush. You should be especially careful when cleaning large inserts with this tool. Since silver is a very soft metal, there is a possibility that the fastening posts will bend, which can lead to the loss of the stone.

Important! If jewelry is inlaid with inserts of organic origin (pearls, mother-of-pearl, amber, corals), then the use of boiling and ammonia is unacceptable for two reasons. Firstly, there is a possibility of causing irreparable damage to appearance. Secondly, most of these inserts are attached using a special glue, which may not withstand the boiling procedure, which will lead to the possibility of their loss.

• This is important: How to distinguish natural amber from a fake

In this case, it is better to simply clean it with a solution of warm water and detergent. This will take more time, but will protect the organic inserts from irreparable damage.

Not often, but you can still find silver items with semi-precious stones that have undergone a process of refining (artificially improving characteristics). There should be notes about this in the description of the gem.

They should not be cleaned at home; heating and caustic ammonia can lead to discoloration or the discovery of previously hidden defects. Then it is better to trust professionals, and even then, only those who can guarantee the safety of the crystals.

Other cleaning methods

There are many other methods for cleaning silver. These include:

1. Egg yolk. Soak a cotton pad in it and rub the product, then let it dry a little and rinse it off.
2. Vinegar. Polish the silver with the product for several minutes using a brush or sponge. The vinegar needs to be heated a little first.
3. Kefir. Place the decoration in a container with sour milk and leave for 2 hours, then rinse well.

4. 
   Lemon acid. The product is dissolved in water and simmered in a water bath. They also put a small piece of copper wire and a silver decoration there. Boil for 20 minutes. Wash the silver under running water.

5. Coca Cola. It is recommended to boil silver in the drink for 10 minutes.

An original way to remove dirt from silver is to clean it with lipstick. Rub the item well with it, then wash it off.

The following methods will also help to give your jewelry a new shine:

• soaking in sour milk;
• rubbing with vinegar;
• polishing with soap mixture;
• soaking in vinegar-soda solution.

After cleaning, you can wash your products not only in plain water; it’s good to add 2 drops of Ferry to it.

Rules for caring for silver

To prevent silver from darkening, the following rules should be followed:

1. Put on jewelry only after the cosmetic oil or cream has been completely absorbed.
2. Avoid storing silver in high humidity conditions.
3. Remove jewelry when swimming, especially in salt water.
4. It is advisable to store the products in a dry place; it is best to wrap them in foil.
5. Remove chains and rings before dishwashing or hand washing.
6. To prevent silver from oxidizing, it is recommended to place aluminum foil in the box.
7. You can put chalk in the storage box to help maintain the shine.
8. After removal, it is recommended to wipe the jewelry with a soft, dry cloth.

It is also important to periodically clean silver from plaque.

If you follow these recommendations, you can wear the jewelry longer, because it will turn black less.

How to clean rhodium plated silver with ammonia

Rhodium plating is a coating designed to effectively protect white precious metal from oxidation and blackening. Therefore, cleaning, in this case, comes down to simply removing household dirt. Such products are now very popular.

The choice of cleaning method depends on the quality of the coating; in most cases, simple boiling with detergent is sufficient (you should start with that). However, if it becomes necessary to add ammonia, this procedure cannot harm a high-quality coating. Rhodium-plated silver can be cleaned much less frequently, so there is no need to worry about the coating quickly wearing off.

Quite often you can find cleaning methods using soda, salt and other substances. It should be understood that the beautiful shine of silver is obtained due to the highest quality of surface polishing. The use of abrasive materials will lead to loss of beauty, which can only be restored by re-polishing the product.

Finally, it should be noted that in order for the need for cleaning to arise much less frequently, you need to follow simple rules of care. Remove jewelry before applying cosmetics, during intense physical activity, and before going to the bathroom or sauna.