A Day At The Beach

Care of Genuine Sea Glass
Although what is now sea glass or beach glass was originally ordinary glass made by man either for practical purposes (bottles, dishes) or decorative reasons (mirrors, vases, etc.) it is nature who has turned it into its present unique, gem-like form. Similar to a diamond or a pearl sea glass is nature made, not manmade. The first thing we do after sea glass hunting is to soak our treasures in a simple soap and water solution to which we’ve added a little chlorine bleach. The only alteration we make to the glass is to drill a hole so that it can be attached to sterling silver or made into a sea glass bead.

So caring for the sea glass part of your jewelry is simple. An occasional soap and water wash is all that is required. But do remember that it is glass and if you drop it on a hard surface it may break!

Care of .925 Sterling Silver

We use .925 sterling silver in all of our jewelry designs. Sterling Silver is at least 92.5% silver and 7.5% alloy (usually copper) for added strength and flexibility. (Fine silver (100%) is, for most applications, too soft to be practical for use as jewelry.) It is this 7.5% strengthening alloy that is the culprit responsible for the dreaded “tarnishing” of sterling silver jewelry through a process called “oxidation,” which simply means exposure to the atmosphere. There are, however, many ways that you can prevent your sterling silver from tarnishing and they are rather simple and commonsensical.

1. Wear your sterling silver every day. Believe it or not the natural oils that your body produces prevent the oxidation process from occurring. So wear your sea glass jewelry every day!

2. Avoid contact with harsh household cleaners, especially anything with chlorine bleach which is in many household cleansers. Just don’t wear your jewelry on cleaning day!

3. Perfumes, body lotions, suntan lotions, hairspray etc., can also cause your sterling silver jewelry to tarnish. You can use all of these items. Just apply them first and put your jewelry on last.

4. Remember the chlorine I mention above? Bad, bad for your sterling silver jewelry. Please don’t wear it in the swimming pool.

5. When not wearing your sea glass jewelry keep it in the little plastic bag that I enclose with every order. It will protect it from tarnishing.

6. You can give your sea glass jewelry a little soap and water bath occasionally to keep it from tarnishing. Just dry it thorough with a soft cotton, non abrasive cloth. Hubby’s old (clean) t-shirt works well.

Cleaning

Ok, so you forgot to take some of the easy precautions above and your sterling silver is looking a little a bit tarnished. Here are three different method, all of which I’ve used myself. You just have to decide what you’re most comfortable with. A word of advice: the sooner you take care of tarnish the better. Don’t let it build up!

1. Liquid silver cleaner available at jewelry shops, specialty shops and grocery stores. Dip your jewelry and then rinse in warm soapy water. Dry jewelry thoroughly with a soft cotton cloth. This works really well and very quickly. My caution here is that although these are commonly sold and used there may be cancer causing chemicals lurking in silver dips. I do use them but only if I have to. It is not recommended to use these solutions with pearls so if you have one of our designs with pearls you may want to try the #2 solution below.

2. A more natural solution is creating your own natural chemical reaction to remove the tarnish. Boiling water, baking soda and aluminum foil. Place a piece of aluminum foil in a glass baking dish. Place piece of sterling silver jewelry on the foil (you can also use an aluminum pie plate). Sprinkle a good amount of baking soda over your silver jewelry. Pour boiling water on top. Voila! It doesn’t take more than a minute for the tarnish to disappear. Remove your jewelry (being careful with the hot water) and rinse in warm soapy water. Dry thoroughly.

3. Jewelry polishing cloths. Simply wipe the cloth over your jewelry and the tarnish is left on the cloth. This is best for jewelry that doesn’t have a lot of nooks and crannies.

I just tried all three of these methods with equally tarnished silver necklaces (from my past life) and to tell you the truth I couldn’t see any difference in the results.

But remember what the doctor says. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Your beautiful sterling silver should last a lifetime as long as you care for it lovingly!