Why does Sterling Silver Tarnish?

Silver, in its purest form, is a relatively soft metal. As such, other metals, primarily copper, are combined with silver to increase its hardness and strength, making it more pliable and widening the range of possible designs.

At The Plosh Box, we exclusively use high-quality 925 Sterling Silver. In other words, our pieces are 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. All of our pieces are hallmarked “92.5”, “925”, or “925 Silver”, except fragile and tiny items which could be damaged or are too small, as a reassurance of our quality.

While Pure Silver is resistant to oxidisation and tarnishing, Sterling Silver can be reactive to oxygen or other pollutants due to other metals in the alloy. As such, 925 Sterling Silver jewellery can develop a superficial, blackish coating. This “tarnishing” is natural and does not damage the silver underneath. You can, therefore, easily restore the original sheen of your jewellery by removing this thin coating.

Be aware that the rate of tarnishing may accelerate due to high humidity, air pollution, sweat, perfumes, lotions and other beauty products, and household chemicals. We recommend putting your jewellery on after beautification, taking it off when exercising or coming into contact with water and storing it safely in a designated container when not in use.

Restoring that Glorious Shine

Soak

• Place your Sterling Silver jewellery in a bowl of hot (NOT boiling) water lined with aluminium foil
• Mix in one of the following (DO NOT combine all 3):
  • several drops of dishwashing liquid
  • 1 tbsp powdered laundry detergent
  • 1/4 cup baking soda and 2 tsp salt.
• Soak for 5 – 10 minutes. Increasing the time as needed. (Black flakes should accumulate at the bottom of the bowl)
• Rinse with clean water and gently pat down the piece with a dry cloth or paper kitchen towel

Polish

• Gently buff your Sterling Silver jewellery with a specialised silver polishing cloth.
• Use a back-and-forth motion to remove any tarnishing, focusing on small sections and moving to clean areas of the cloth as needed.