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How to Clean & Care for Your Silver Jewellery
By Sophie Lindley - 18th February 2026
Silver jewellery has long been a staple of many jewellery lover's collections, due to its subtle colour, high shine, and everyday wearability. Whether you've built up an extensive collection and you're keen to know how to care for it, or you're starting out on the path to collecting silver pieces, knowing how to keep your silver jewellery clean, tarnish-free, and away from harm or damage can be key to ensuring you adore each piece as much as the day you bought it.
This guide is on hand to ensure every silver earring, ring, bracelet, or necklace is polished to perfection for as long as possible.
How can I care for my silver jewellery?
You've just purchased a pretty piece of silver jewellery, and although keeping it looking fresh might not be the first thing on your mind (let's face it, you'll be more excited to wear and style it!), you may be starting to think about how long it will be a favourite piece in your collection. As silver jewellery is timeless, selecting a new silver ring, earring, necklace or bracelet often comes with thoughts of how you're going to incorporate it into your style, but also how long you're going to want to wear it for. If you want to ensure this new piece is a permanent part of your everyday collection for as long as possible, caring for it is super important. After all, silver is an easy metal to tarnish and is often known for going dull and dark with age.
The great news is, this is really easy to fix, and ensuring you're following these 3 simple care rules, your prized pieces will be looking sleek, polished, and pretty for many more wears to come.
- Regularly clean and polish your silver jewellery
- Ensure your silver jewellery pieces are stored correctly
- Avoid damage when you're wearing your silver jewellery
How do I remove tarnish from silver jewellery?
Whether your jewellery is sterling silver or silver plated, tarnishing is likely to occur over time. Either with regular wear and contact with contaminates, or from being stored and unworn for a long time, tarnishing is a natural part of the ageing process of silver jewellery. The good news is, tarnishing is reversible!
If you own a few silver jewellery pieces, we recommend always having a polishing cloth on hand. When you gently rub at the surface of the piece with the cloth, you'll buff away any dullness and easily restore your beloved pieces.
How can I prevent my silver jewellery from tarnishing?
While it is virtually impossible to stop your silver jewellery from tarnishing due to it being a very normal chemical reaction between silver and oxygen, there are ways you can slow down the process and ensure your pieces don't require quite so much maintenance in future.
1. Ensure you store your silver jewellery correctly - as moisture can be detrimental to the clean look of your jewellery, you'll want to make sure it's stored in a room like a bedroom, rather than a bathroom. An airtight container or vessel will always be best, as when jewellery is exposed regularly to sunlight, air, and heat, the metal surface can oxidise, thus speeding up the tarnishing process. Some great items for storing silver jewellery away from light and air are:
- Jewellery boxes - this White Two Tier Jewellery Box has several levels with compartments, ring rolls, and necklace pouches, meaning you can store each piece in plush velvet comfort, far from moisture or air
- Jewellery cases - often smaller and more compact than a jewellery box, soft fabric jewellery cases like this Blue Wildflower Mini Round Travel Jewellery Case can be easily transported in a bag or case when you're off on trips
- Jewellery rolls - completely soft and ultra compact, jewellery rolls like this Burgundy Bow Embroidered Velvet Jewellery Roll have compartments inside that open out to reveal a flatlay fabric case which can easily be stored in a bag or drawer without taking up much space
2. Control the humidity in your environment - adding moisture-absorbers like dehumidifiers or silica gel pouches to your room or storage solution is perfect for trapping any excess moisture. A plain piece of blackboard chalk is also a great natural way to absorb moisture, and as so many households already have it lying around, it may be a cheaper solution, too!
3. Avoid storing your jewellery in untreated wood or cardboard - known for releasing acids that can speed up tarnishing, we recommend not letting your silver jewellery come into direct contact with unvarnished wood or cardboard. Sticking to fabric cases or painted wood boxes as mentioned above means you're creating the perfect environment for your jewellery
How can I avoid damaging my silver jewellery?
Silver (particularly sterling silver) is a softer metal than gold or platinum, which can make it prone to scratching, scuffing, or bending. There are many ‘home hacks’ when it comes to cleaning silver jewellery, and although they're cheap and relatively easy to source, not all of them are completely damage-free. The tips below should help you choose the right method and tools for cleaning and keeping your silver jewellery without impacting further damage.
When cleaning your silver jewellery, always remember to…
- Ensure you're using products that won't scratch your jewellery - paper products like tissues, toilet paper, or paper towels contain tiny wood fibres that can cause micro-scratches, so although you may feel like you're buffing up a lovely shine with some tissue paper, you're actually adding tiny bits of damage that over time will make the silver look more dull
- Avoid using ‘home hack’ products like toothpaste, brass, or boot polish - these contain other abrasive chemicals that can just be too much for your delicate silver
- (If your silver is plated) avoid excessively rubbing it when polishing - as silver plating involves a thin layer of silver over copper or brass, aggressive, regular polishing can rub the silver layer right off, revealing the base metal underneath. Keep polishing of silver plated jewellery gentle and minimal
When storing your silver jewellery, always remember to…
- Keep each piece stored in their own separate section - avoid them touching any other pieces as when silver rubs up against other metals, it is very prone to scratching and scuffing. Gemstones like diamonds are also much harder and sharper than silver, often with jagged edges. Allowing these to regularly rub up against your soft silver will scratch the metal over time
When wearing your silver jewellery, always remember to…
- Take them off before exercise or doing any heavy lifting - buffing, scraping, or bashing silver jewellery can easily alter the shape, let alone add scratches and scuffs aplenty to the surface and loosening stone settings. Excessive sweat and natural body oils can also cause the metal to oxidise faster, too, so taking your jewellery off before partaking in exercise or heavy lifting is key
- Take off your silver necklace chains before sleep - silver chains can easily bend or kink, loosening the links over time and eventually leading to breakage. We recommend removing your silver necklaces before sleep and hanging or storing them to avoid knots or kinks in the chain
- Avoid harsh chemicals - whether you're cleaning with bleach, or swimming regularly in chlorine, such harsh chemicals can easily erode the surface of the metal, making it become brittle over time. For your silver jewellery to have the utmost longevity, we recommend taking each piece off before cleaning, swimming, or working with any other harsh chemicals
Not all silver is the same, and while these tips can apply to silver as a whole, it is sometimes worth following a specific guide for silver types like sterling silver, to ensure you're giving it the utmost care possible.
Silver jewellery is a firm favourite for so many, and it's not hard to see why. The classic colour, durability, and perfectly-polished shine of silver jewellery lends itself to so many styles and personalities. If you're looking for ways to build or style a silver jewellery collection, check out our guide here. And if there's always room for one more piece in your collection, explore our silver jewellery range below.
