My favorite sterling silver ring turned black this weekend when I went in a hot tub!
I tell customers often to remove their sterling silver rings when they go in pools and hot tubs. This is exactly why! My beautiful ring got all weird patchy, gray and black! I am notoriously hard on my rings. I wear them in the garden to the gym and never take them off. I love my rings! I treat them badly 🙁
This ring in particular my grandmother gave me when I was struggling with Lyme disease. She told me to wear it every day and repeat to myself “I am well” She had worn it for 30 years before I got it and it features her initials. I have had to repair it multiple times because the band had been so thin it would snap. Finally I replaced the shank and now it is perfect. Well it was until I wore it in the hot tub.
How did I fix it? Well, I could have gone straight to the polishing machine because I have one and I know that that will polish it right up… but this ring is old and I am afraid of removing too much material.
I was going to try the aluminum foil thing, but I am far too lazy to do that. I thought I would start with a polishing cloth, because, well it’s easy!! Ha!
How to use a polishing cloth… remove the cloth from the packaging, and rub your jewelry gently. Tada! Your jewelry is shiny again! Be sure to wash your hands after you use it because it does have chemicals in it for cleaning your jewelry.
My favorite polishing cloth is a sunshine polishing cloth. It works fast and lasts a long time.
Things that will turn sterling silver black or green –
- Hydrogen peroxide!
- Hot tubs or pools!
- Some cleaning products!
- Box hair dye!
- Your body!!
- Foods you eat!
- Some prescriptions especially pain killers!
- Some lotions!
Side note… I would rather polish my ring than remove my ring and risk losing it if I forgot to leave it at home.
