Jewelry Guide

Why Does My Jewelry Turn Black?

Spread the love

Hey! I know the problem is very common and everybody is complaining about turning their jewelry black. But it is not a serious issue. If your jewelry turns black it can still get the real color back. The discoloration of jewelry involves many environmental, chemical, and physical factors.

We can avoid discoloring our jewelry by keeping certain points in mind. It is not a big science to save our jewelry from being black. Sterling silver, silver, or gold, there is no exception to all the jewelry items from being green or black

But the most common complaint is about silver jewelry. The reason behind this is the chemical reaction that silver does with oxygen from air and sweat from our skin. All these elements join together with the alloy that is a minimum 8 to 10% in silver jewelry.

We know that normally copper and nickel are used as an alloy to silver or even gold. Silver reacts with environmental sulfur as early as it is exposed to air and forms silver sulfide. Similarly, copper when reacts with sweat does a chemical reaction and quickly tarnishes the jewelry into green

All these things are unfortunate as we can’t resist them because of the environmental contact and the routine we interact with water and chemicals.

Factors affecting Mainly to Turn Our Jewelry Black

Oh My Good Lord! How the jewelry stores are filled with jewelry that turned black or greenish. Why people are complaining too much about their jewelry turning black? We must know the factors or agents that are involved I this issue. Some people don’t care for the factors and their proper treatment. The things they just keep on doing id complaining.

 Let’s have a look at all the possible factors and the ways that they can be treated. 

Contact with Environmental Sulphur

When we work in an open environment or face the heat of sun or fire, the sulfur compounds that are present in the environment and coal comes in in reaction with sulfur and form sulfur oxides that turn our jewelry black.
With the time being, pollution has got a serious issue in our world. No place is spared from this minister. All the pollutants present in our environment have a keen interest in metals like silver, gold, copper, and others. They instantly react and discolor them.

Moisture and Humidity

One thing we do frequently knowingly or unknowingly is to expose our jewelry to moisture. The sweat, the water, the rain all is the responsible factors to turn our jewelry black. As normal beings, we confront moisture many times a day whether we are working or taking bath. The humidity of any suffocated area will cause an intense precipitation ratio and ultimately discolor the jewelry. The copper alloy is a main responsible factor for contacting moist surfaces.

Contact with Cosmetic Chemicals

Most of us are unaware of the fact that after coming out of the air-free box or container, the jewelry starts reacting at once with environmental agents. We consider our brand new ring or bracelet danger-free while going to any party or event

What happens? The ring or bracelet starts to react instantly to the cosmetic chemicals we have applied to our skin. This creates a chemical compound between the cosmetic and the jewelry. It eventually smudges or discolors the item.

Cosmetic chemicals are very hard than environmental elements. The reaction time of cosmetics is mor3 quick and active than others. If we notice the chemical reactions with the microscope, we will get astonished that how some unseen residue is started to develop at once just after wearing the jewelry item.

The Quality of Plates

Gold, in special is rhodium-plated or platinum-plated. Rhodium itself is very porous and reactive to other metals like copper. If Rhodium plates are of low quality that may be 0.5 or fewer microns, it will easily react with copper to blacken the jewelry article. It is a common practice to buy more jewelry with less quality that is responsible for this loss of color.

Ways to Tackle the Problem

Hey Guys! There is nothing to worry about. There is always a solution to every problem that lies beneath the problem itself. Just we have to re-consider the things all around us. We should be able to understand the agents and reasons that can be avoided with little effort to save our jewelry from blackening.

 Let’s have a look at all the ways to avoid or regain the original color and shine of our jewelry. 
  • Try wearing the jewelry only during any event or if it is your routine to wear it all the time, then put off it while sleep.
  • Clean the jewelry daily with help of a jewelry cleaning cloth that can easily be found in jewelry stores.
  • Well, jewelry reacts instantly with cosmetic chemicals. So, we should be a little more careful while applying cosmetics. There should be no jewelry item t all while applying make-up.
  • After attending a party or office, put off the jewelry items instantly.
  • Try not to wear your rings, bracelets, earrings, and necklaces while taking bath, washing dishes, or clothes. All these activities involve ate as well as chemicals that will help the discoloring procedure activate speedily.
  • If we are the residents of some humid area, we must be more careful about the jewelry because of the moisture. We can polish the inside of our ring or other items with normal nail polish. This will help the ring not to interact with the sweat or moisture of our skin. In this way, we can protect our jewelry from blackening a bit.
  • We must have the habit of putting off and cleaning our jewelry items daily. There must be a zip-lock pack or air-tight box container to put or jewelry in it after cleaning.
  • Better is to separate the items away from one another. Put them in separate zip-lock packs. This is because jewelry can develop a chemical connection with each other and the result is tarnishing and discoloring.

Conclusion

We can now have enough knowledge to understand the nature and treatment of jewelry items to avoid being black or tarnish. There is nothing to worry about it at all. Proper care and handling can help us a lot. If the jewelry gets blackened yet, do polish it again and clean it with proper oils. The original shine and color will regain.

A chemical reaction occurs normally with almost all types of metals like silver, sterling silver, 10k gold, 14k gold, or others. But proper care can make your jewelry long-lasting and sturdy.


Spread the love

Jasmin Piterson

Hi i am Dr. Jasmin Piterson an Sole owner and editor of The Piercing Home. I works with expert piercer and writes original content based on their recommendations. Previously, I have done my doctorate from the University of California. I covered all kind of stuff related to piercing. My favorite things include Eyebro piercing, septum piercing and all kind of piercing for both male and female

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Back to top button