Cleaning Silver Jewelry with Household Products

Preventing Tarnish:
Sterling silver is a reactive metal, and tarnishes when exposed to air and moisture.  The easiest way to prevent tarnish is by either wearing your silver (the oils on your skin help keep silver clean) and by storing in a dry, sealed place such as a plastic baggy or jewelry box with tarnish strips when not in use.  For silver jewelry that I don't wear frequently, I always make sure to keep it sealed in a plastic bag.

Polishing Cloths & Compounds: 
The basic, bread-and-butter way to clean silver: a polishing cloths.  In terms of polishing cloths, jewelers only use Sunshine Polishing Cloths.  I'd never use any other brand, and you can easily find them here on Amazon.  If you buy them in bulk they're great stocking stuffers!

For more intricate silver pieces where a polishing cloth can't reach, I use Jax Instant Silver.  It's a liquid, so I pour a bit in a little bit in a plastic cup, drop the silver piece in, let it sit for a few seconds, then rinse off with water and dry with a soft dry cloth.  This is an ideal product for intricate, silver chain or other pieces that have spaces unreachable with a cloth.

Household Products:
There are two household products that work on heavily tarnished jewelry that you likely already have or can find at your grocery store.

1.  Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers work wonders on most surfaces, and I've found this to be true on silver as well.  I tested it out on a pretty grimy looking earring that have a lot of nooks and crannies and it did a great job.  Here are my results : 

BEFORE MAGIC ERASER           AFTER MAGIC ERASER

Wet the Magic Eraser a little bit, rub the piece down as if it were a polishing cloth, rinse in some water, and voila! 

2 : Toothpaste and a toothbrush!  

Works just as well (if not better because it really gets into the nooks and crannies of wirework or chain).  Make sure that you use smooth, non-grainy toothpaste that could scratch your piece's polished surface.

Here's the other half of the pair before cleaning with toothpaste next to the earring already cleaned with Magic Eraser :

Make sure to rinse well after brushing so there isn't any toothpaste residue that will fog up your piece!

Success!  Below you can see the results of both toothpaste and Magic Eraser.

LEFT : EARRINGS CLEANED WITH MAGIC ERASER  RIGHT : EARRINGS CLEANED WITH TOOTHPASTE AND A TOOTHBRUSH