How to clean silver jewelry at home

Silver jewelry is normally the most precious jewelry owned by individuals, with both sentimental and financial importance. Nice jewelry though also seems to get dirtier, and become duller, much quicker than other pieces of jewelry stored in the jewelry box.
You have to know that depending on the value of the silver jewelry it may then be a case of turning to a jeweler to get the piece cleaned. Jewelers often make use of acid to clean off built up dirt and tarnish, but it a method best left in the hands of the professionals.
Silver is well known for developing tarnish if left alone. Most people will want to clean their silver jewelry to remove this dirt and tarnish and there is any number of ways that this can be achieved.
There are a number of gold and silver cleaners now available on the market, and have obviously been designed to do a job. In most cases these cleaners make use of mild detergents, and the likes of ammonia to clean the precious metal, and will clean tarnished silver jewelry. These cleaners can be brought from most supermarkets, although it is important to carefully read through the instructions to ensure that they are suitable for the piece of jewelry to be cleaned.
It is though not always necessary to buy a store cleaner, and most people will have other cleaners lying around the home. This doesn't mean picking up household cleaners and bleach, as these could damage the precious metals, but rather means looking to old fashioned and innovative solutions. There are many other cleaning solutions for silver jewelry. In a continuation of the toothbrush theme, many people also like to make use of toothpaste as a cleaning agent, and will with some gentle rubbing produce impressive results. Toothpaste works as it is an abrasive, so only gentle pressure should be used; otherwise some damage could be inflicted.
Surprisingly the best method for cleaning gold and silver comes down to the use of elbow grease, not literally of course. Gold and silver that has a slight build up of tarnish and dirt can be cleaned with soapy water that is at room temperature. Any crevices in the jewelry can be cleaned at the same time with a soft bristle tooth brush. Hard bristles though could damage the gold or silver. A good finish to silver and gold jewelry though is then completed with the use of a lint free cloth and some gentle rubbing.
These methods will work on most gold and silver pieces, although cleaning gold and silver is made a lot easier by a regular cleaning regime. It may be though that some pieces cannot be cleaned at home. In most cases ultrasonic cleaners will only bring about results that are similar to those achieved with soapy water. Ultrasonic cleaners though may be totally out of the question if there are the likes of opals or pearls set into the jewelry, as these stones can be easily damaged through the use of the ultrasonic cleaner.
With regular cleaning, silver jewelry will remain as pristine and perfect as the day it was brought.