Learning how to clean silver and turquoise jewelry at home is really two jobs in one. The silver wants polishing, and the turquoise wants to be left alone as much as possible. Most of the damage people do to turquoise pieces happens when they treat the whole thing as a single object and reach for a silver dip.
Why turquoise needs different treatment
Turquoise is soft and porous. It sits around 5 to 6 on the Mohs hardness scale, which is well below quartz, and unlike a hard stone it will absorb whatever liquid it is sitting in. Water, oils, soap residue and cleaning chemicals all soak in, and once they are in, they do not come back out. Over time that shows as dulling, patchiness or a colour shift towards green.
Many turquoise stones are also stabilised with resin, or glued into their settings rather than held by prongs. Heat, solvents and ultrasonic vibration can loosen either.
What to avoid completely
- Silver dips and tarnish-removing liquids. These are the most common cause of ruined turquoise. Never submerge the piece.
- Ultrasonic and steam cleaners. Vibration and heat can crack stabilised stones and shift glued settings.
- Soaking of any kind, including a bowl of warm soapy water.
- Ammonia, bleach, vinegar and baking soda pastes. Fine on plain silver in some cases, bad news on a porous stone.
- Toothpaste. It is abrasive enough to scratch both the stone and the silver.
How to clean silver and turquoise jewelry at home, step by step
The safe method is dry first, damp only if you must, and never wet.
- Wipe the stone with a soft dry cloth. A microfibre or lint-free cotton cloth lifts skin oils and dust, which is most of what dulls turquoise day to day.
- Use a soft dry brush for the setting. A clean, very soft toothbrush gets dust out of the bezel edge without introducing liquid.
- If something is stuck on, use a barely damp cloth. Dampen a corner of the cloth with plain water, wring it out until it feels almost dry, wipe the spot, then dry the area immediately with the dry part of the cloth. Keep water off the join between stone and metal.
- Polish the silver only. Use an impregnated silver polishing cloth and work on the metal, keeping the cloth away from the stone. Take your time around a bezel rather than rubbing across it.
- Let it air-dry fully before storing. Put it away in a soft pouch or a lined box, not a sealed plastic bag.
Keeping tarnish from coming back
Tarnish is a reaction between silver and sulphur compounds in the air, so the less exposure the better. Store pieces separately so they do not scratch each other, keep them out of the bathroom, and put jewellery on last when you are getting ready, after perfume, lotion and hairspray. Anti-tarnish strips in the box help. Silica gel sachets help with damp.
Wearing silver regularly genuinely slows tarnish, because the friction of daily wear keeps the surface bright. The pieces that go black are usually the ones sitting untouched in a drawer.
A note on fine silver
If the silver in question is fine silver rather than sterling, it will tarnish far more slowly. Sterling is alloyed with copper, and it is the copper that reacts most readily. Pieces made from silver clay fire to 99.9% fine silver, which is one of the quieter advantages of the material: less polishing, over a longer time.
If you are curious about making your own pieces and setting stones yourself, our complete guide to silver clay covers how the material works, and the silver clay starter kit includes clay, a torch, tools, cubic zirconia stones and instructions. We ship worldwide with duties covered.
