By popular request, here is one before and several after photographs of my Efva Attling Mother Earth bargainous pendant.
Before:
After:
Tarnished sterling silver often looks awful. It can be almost black, with no shine whatsoever. This is the reason it often ends up on bargain tables, looking like junk. Unlike gold, silver oxidisesnand becomes darker and duller with exposure to sulphur-containing gases in the air. It needs to be regularly cleaned.
But it is so easy to clean and you feel so good once your item is all sparkly and shiny again.
I use store-bought silver dip and silver polishing cloths to shine up my silver. You can leave the item in the dip until the tarnish is gone, dry it carefully with a soft cloth, and then polish it with the polishing cloth. If you cannot get into all the nooks and crannies of an elaborate design, you can use silver foam, a paste silver cleaner, or a toothbrush dipped in the silver dip to get at them.
If you wish to use a homemade recipe to clean sterling silver you can line a bowl with aluminium foil (shiny side up), add one tablespoon of salt and pour very hot water over it. Make sure the silver items come into contact with the foil. Let them soak, turning if necessary, rinse and dry. If you wish, you can add 1 tablespoon baking soda to the salt, but I don’t usually do that.
