Another great way to clean your sterling silver jewelry is with Windex. Yes… Windex. You can either spray the Windex directly on the item to be cleaned or on a soft-bristled toothbrush or soft cloth.
As we said, bicarbonate of soda is one of the greatest cleaning products to have in your home. If your silver jewellery has stubborn, built-up tarnish, make a thick paste from bicarbonate of soda and lukewarm water. Apply the paste to any tarnished spots and leave it for 3 minutes.
Window cleaner works great not only on glass surfaces it actually removes dirt and restore shine of sterling silver pretty nice. Spray a little on a cloth and start scrubbing your jewels or silverware. Use a soft toothbrush to gently scrub around small details and ornaments.
Get a small clean bowl and place your diamond ring inside. Spray Windex on the ring inside the bowl generously and allow it to sit for about one minute.
There are many ways to clean diamonds. Every week or so, they can be soaked overnight in an ammonia based household cleaner like Windex or a commercial jewelry cleaner. Do not use chlorine bleaches or abrasive cleaners or toothpaste as they may corrode or loosen the metal setting.
Windex won't hurt your ring, but it isn't a great cleaner either. So stick to mild soap and water, and six-month cleanings and check-ups at your jeweler.
For silver that is heavily tarnished, mix a paste of three parts baking soda to one part water. Wet the silver and apply the cleaner with a soft, lint-free cloth (not paper towels). Work the paste into the crevices, turning the cloth as it gets gray. Rinse and buff dry.
Cleaning silver with vinegar is safe for your silver, you, and the environment, and it's great for bringing back the sparkle. Vinegar is a natural cleaner, disinfectant, and deodorizer that is tough on tarnish. Here's how to polish silver and get back that sparkling shine with vinegar and baking soda.
Clean Silver with Dish Soap and Water
The key to cleaning silver without damaging it is to avoid abrasion. Cleaning silver with harsh abrasive products like chlorine bleach, or storing it using rubber bands and newspaper, is a no-no.
Simply pour the coke into a bowl and submerge your silver into it. The acid in the coke will quickly remove the tarnish. Keep an eye on it – just a few minutes should be enough. Rinse with warm water and dry carefully with a soft cloth.
In museums, important collections of silver are cleaned of tarnish using a slurry made of specific abrasives such as precipitated calcium carbonate (chalk) and water, applied with cotton or soft cloths.
You can easily clean silver with aluminum foil, baking soda and hot water. This method uses electrolytic action instead of chemical-polish abrasion and removes the tarnish from oxidized silver without removing any of the underlying metal. This is great for heavily tarnished silver.
Brasso is not suitable for cleaning silver – it is far too abrasive and will damage the metal. There is a less abrasive silver polish called Silvo that would be more suitable for cleaning tarnish, but cleaning and polishing collectible pieces are not recommended.
Restore shine to coins and jewelry
Coins and jewelry that have started to gather an unsightly tarnish can be cleaned with nothing more than a can of Coke. If, for some reason, you care about how shiny your pocket change is, simply drop the grimy coins in a Coke bath and leave them overnight.
Real silver turns black gradually and relatively slowly, but vinegar can step it up a notch and speed up the process. So, if you put silver bars in vinegar and leave them for 48 hours, a black residue will form on the surface of each piece. Acidic acid induces oxidation, making the tarnish more pronounced.
In a small bowl, stir a couple drops of mild dish soap into warm water to create suds. Let your silver jewelry sit in the solution for about five minutes. Use a soft toothbrush to gentle scrub away tarnish from any crevices in the jewelry. Rinse each piece in a bowl of clean, warm water.
Although using baking soda and aluminum foil can quickly remove tarnish from silverware, some dealers caution against using it on antique silver, as it can be too abrasive and ruin the finish (especially if you're unsure of the provenance and it's possible that the pieces are not actually sterling silver).
Fill a microwave dish with roughly two-cups of Windex. Add a few drops of dish soap. Without a lid, microwave the solution for one-minute without your jewelry inside. Remove and add your rings and allow to soak.