Kelim Jewelry is 925 Silver with a fine silver finish and as with all silver jewelry will tarnish with time. We apply a jewelry tarnish protectant at the end of the production process so you will notice that Kelim Jewelry will take longer to tarnish than most other silver jewelry. Certain lighting will speed up the tarnishing process and therefore we do not recommend halogen lighting directly over silver jewelry.
Our first choice for cleaning is an Environmentally Friendly Baking Soda Silver Cleaner that you can easily make using the recipe below. Please note that this recipe is only good when the tarnish has just started, so make sure to catch it before it gets bad. This cleaning process may take a little more time than using a dip, but it is definitely environmentally safer.
RECIPE AND INSTRUCTIONS:
Wash tarnished item with a mild soap then place the piece on aluminum foil in the bottom of a pot. Add a baking soda solution of ¼ cup soda and a few teaspoons of salt into 1 quart (4 cups) boiling water. Cover for a few minutes. Then rinse and let dry thoroughly.
If this does not do the job then you can use a quality silver dip but be aware that most silver dips are, not only more aggressive to the environment but also to the jewelry so please follow these instructions.
Very important: Once the piece is dipped all residues must be thoroughly rinsed off and the piece must be completely dried. We recommend using a hairdryer.
Steel chains: All pieces that have steel chains should not be put into a silver cleaner, but rather a milder jewelry cleaner as the steel chain can not tolerate the aggressive silver cleaning products.