Silver jewellery

[themidimit]

Not sure if this is the right forum...I have a silver necklace which I love. It is really tarnished (I think that perfume I used has taken the polish off). I tried cleaning but no improvement. Is there something you can buy where you almost re-plate the silver? I imagine some sort of dipping solution? TIA

I had an old silver necklace of great sentimental value that I got repaired at a jeweller, and it came back gleaming as well as fixed so might be worth seeing if your local store does some kind of polishing service.

If you haven’t tried this method of cleaning then it may be worth a try..

Half a cup of boiling water, add approx. 1 table spoon of salt and stir until it’s dissolved, add scrunched up small pieces of aluminium foil then add the jewellery. The foil will become black and the silver becomes clean. Leave the jewellery in the solution for a day or so and then remove and rinse under cold water.

Is it sterling silver (925) plated or silver tone?
Sterling is cleanable but don't pull it through you fingers as you clean it can stretch out the chain if it's silver tone, you can't it's fashion jewellery made to have a limited life, silver plate can be replated. The cleaning method above works but most the time it'd bicarbonate of soda not salt and not recommended to leave in for any length of time. Never clean jewellery with stones with that method.

All real silver tarnishes when exposed to the air and needs a regular clean. If it appears to have lost some sort of coating, are you definitely sure it is solid silver Is it looking a bit red/brassy? Is it marked 925?

Some silver does have a rhodium plating to make it shinier. If this is rhodium plated that can be redone by a jeweller but you need to weight the cost vs the value of the item.

If it's silver plated it won't have much value and it would cost more to get it replated. The products you can buy online that are supposed to do it don't really work properly. You may want to take it to the jeweller if it has sentimental value but, if not, your best bet would to be just buy another one.

If it's solid silver you can clean it by the foil/bicarb method or just buy a silver cleaning cloth.

agree with @ForPearlViper if hallmarked silver, this is what you need

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/goddards-long-term-silver-polish-cloth