Gavarnie

Modern Hammer

Willow


Storing your silver in the open air and humidity for extended period of time can cause it to tarnish quickly. Tarnish first appears as a golden hue on the silver and then quickly turns to black. This is caused by oxidation and moisture from the air an sunshine. To keep tarnish to a minimum I advise you store your silver in anti-tarnish cloth pouches. When you purchase silver jewelry from Andrea Lucille Designs each piece will come with this type of pouch.

To remove light dirt, oil or makeup just use a small amount of mild liquid detergent to a cup of warm water and rinse thoroughly with clean water. For light tarnish I recommend a silver polishing cloth. Be careful of pearls and stones so don't rub it too briskly.

If you have a great deal of tarnish and need more cleaning I suggest Tarnx or Silver Dip liquid tarnish remover found in grocery stores, pharmacies, and hardware stores. First clean jewelry as described above to remove dirt, oils, and makeup. After drying the piece put on rubber household gloves. Make sure the surface or countertop you are cleaning on is not going to be damaged by the liquid (these surfaces are listed in the directions on the bottle). If the piece is just silver, you may dip the piece into the liquid. Do not leave in for more than two minutes, rinse thoroughly with clean water and dry with a soft cloth or paper towel.

If the piece contains porous stones or pearls you cannot dip the piece into the liquid, as this will damage the surface of the stone or pearl. After cleaning off the dirt, oils, or makeup lay piece on paper towels, or an old dish towel. Using q-tips dip the q-tip into the liquid tarnish remover and go over the piece touching only the silver parts with the q-tip end. When finished rinse quickly and thoroughly with clean water. If your piece is a necklace do 1/3 of the necklace at a time making sure to rinse with clean water and repeat until finished.