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How I Salvaged My Tarnished Silver Pandora Bracelet

How to remove tarnish from silver jewellery

Around 18 months ago, an little incident occurred in relation to my much-loved Pandora bracelet. Having worn the bracelet every day since I received it as a gift from my husband, I didn’t pay any thought to removing it before going swimming with my daughter.

It wasn’t the first time my lovely bracelet had come into contact with water, since I’d kept it on my wrist whilst swimming before. However, on this particular day, I think I must have visited the most heavily chlorinated swimming pool in the whole of the UK.

When I got out, I realised that the chlorine in the water had totally ruined my bracelet, turning it from bright and shiny to horribly dull and dirty. I was rather mortified and tried everything I could think of to remove the tarnish, before failing miserably. I hid it away for some time, until my husband noticed I wasn’t wearing it, at which point I had to fess up.

Here’s what my bracelet looked like after the swimming pool incident!

Cleaning silver jewellery - how to remove tarnish from silver jewelry

Not great, right? Each one of the charms had been bought for me as a gift to celebrate a special occasion or memory, so I was totally gutted to have ruined it like this! I left the bracelet tucked away in a drawer, until I came across this fantastic article which explained how to remove tarnish from silver jewellery! Please do have a read of it for full instructions and how the process of removing tarnish actually works, once you’ve finished reading my post.

Before I explain what I did that actually worked, here are the methods I tried before that all failed…

  • Washing the bracelet with gentle detergent and water.
  • Washing it with soap and water.
  • Rubbing with a special jewellery-cleaning cloth.
  • Soaking in lemon juice and salt.
  • Soaking in lemon juice and vinegar.

(I’d read somewhere that old fashioned cleaning methods involved lemon juice and vinegar, so thought it was worth a shot!).

Here’s what I did that worked….

  1. I covered a small bowl in aluminium foil (could have used an tin foil plate if I had access to one).
  2. I added 1 x tablespoon of salt and 1 x tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) into the bowl.
  3. I then poured some hot (not boiling) water into the bowl and mixed the salt and bicarbonate of soda together until they dissolved.
  4. I removed the charms from the bracelet and put them into the bowl separately as well as the bracelet chain itself.
  5. I left the bracelet chain and charms to soak for around 10 minutes before removing.

When I took the bracelet out of the solution, I could see already that it was starting to look a lot better (after 18 months no less!). To finish making it look just about as good as new, I polished it with my silver jewellery cleaning cloth and it just helped to remove any remnants of tarnish.

Here’s what my bracelet looked like after cleaning!

Remove tarnish from silver jewellery - cleaning pandora bracelet

A million times better! I’m so happy that I can wear my bracelet again! Time to start thinking about future ones to add onto it! I came across this really cute Mickey and Minnie safety chain charm on Amazon, which I’d love because Disney will always hold a special place in my heart. We took our daughter to Disneyland Paris in January and we have lots of amazing memories from the trip.

Finally…

So there you have it, this is how I salvaged my extremely tarnished Pandora bracelet! It’s worth noting that this process shouldn’t be used for jewellery that is made from antiqued silver or if it contains semi-precious or precious stones. If your jewellery is really valuable, then you should consider taking it to a professional jeweller just in case.

But if you are looking for a DIY home solution, I hope this post has helped you!

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How to clean a Pandora bracelet - remove tarnish from silver jewellery

*Pandora bracelet images are the copyright of Craftaholique.

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • 5

      I have just come out of a hot tub heavy in chlorine and realised id got my pandora ring on and its severely discoloured ….I never ever take it off as it was a gift from my boyfriend and im heartbroken…… your post has given me hope….ive taken it off and will follow your instructions when i get home …. fingers and toes crossed xxx

      Reply
  2. 6

    Just tried it after mine been slung in the back of a drawer for months, it looks fantastic .Thank you for this fab top tip xx

    Reply
    • 7

      No worries – glad I could help! I’m still wearing mine since I cleaned it all that time ago. Still looks good! xx

      Reply
    • 9

      Hello! You could just try a soft cloth and see if the tarnish rubs off? I used a silver jewellery cleaning cloth for mine though – I would recommend trying to get hold of one for best results.

      Reply
  4. 10

    Thank you so much, I’ve recently used bleach to remove molds from the rooftops of my room and I damaged my bracelet… I will follow your instructions and hope it will help me saving my pandora

    Reply
  6. 12

    Thank u so much. I accidentalyy wore mine in the hotpools today and almost cried.thank u for this top tio my bracelet and charms r already looking back to normal

    Reply
  7. 13

    Thank goodness for this excellent tip!!
    I had use mould cleaner on the windows around my house and completely forgot to remove my Pandora rings. I thought I had ruined them until I found this amazing help online. They look as good as new now. One happy lady right here

    Reply
  8. 14

    Crossing my fingers. I didn’t take mine off & used hair remover cream & they look terrible so really hoping this method rescues them

    Reply
  10. 17

    Brilliant after paying 7 pounds for jewellery cleaner for my moms bracelet and it did nothing my mom was all set to buy a new one until my husband found this post on here it’s come up like a new one after soaking in 10 mins thank you fantastic

    Reply
    • 22

      I put the charms into the bowl of solution as well as the bracelet and let them soak. I then polished them with my silver jewellery cleaning cloth!

      Reply
    • 24

      My understanding is that the aluminium foil reacts with the silver sulphide on the bracelet (the discoloured bits!). Use it right at the beginning to cover your bowl, before adding any of the solution materials.

      Reply
  15. 26

    It worked. Thank you so much for this tip. I was so upset when I forgot to take off my ring before going swimming as it was a birthday present from my son.
    I nearly threw the ring in the bin as I thought I had ruined it

    Reply
  16. 27

    I found this tip on Google. I forgot to take my ring off & went in the hot tub literally just got it & it’s tarnished it’s currently soaking now, fingers crossed it works, so I was glad to see this thread & found out it’s worked for others.

    Reply
  17. 29

    I cannot begin to explain my happiness and gratitude to you for posting this. I was devastated that my bracelet was what I thought ruined! I did this and it literally looks brand new! It has such a sentimental value as did yours. Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  20. 34

    Thank you so much for this wonderful information! I was in the shower washing my hair with my bracelet on (I NEVER take my bracelet off) and as I was running my hair under the water I noticed that my bracelet had turned an ugly brown! It was silver when I stepped into the shower. I immediately started googling information on how to clean my Pandora bracelet.

    My bracelet is SIVLER again along with all my beautiful charms!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

    Reply
  21. 36

    Hi Hayley !!!!! The bowl has to be any particular bowl ?? Glass bowl or steel bowl or silver bowl or normal crockery bowl ??? Pls advise before I try this method …..

    Reply
  23. 40

    My bracelet looked worse than the one you pictured. I wish I would have taken before and after pictures, this method is amazing. Mine did take 2 times. Thank you for the great tip. My mother kept her sterling in zip lock bags to prevent tarnishing. Now that mine are shiny again I’m going to try the zip lock also.

    Reply
  24. 44

    I just found this post and am going to try it on my Pandora necklace. I have been hiding it for about a year and have tried everything that you posted and more! So that is what I am going to do tomorrow. Do you know if it works on silver plate?

    Reply
    • 45

      Hello! I’m not sure if it works on silver plate, I haven’t tried it, sorry! But I hope you have success with your Pandora necklace.

      Reply
  25. 46

    I have used this method before and it worked. However, I used this method a year+ ago and I left my jewelry in the solution for too long! I got side-tracked and forgot about it for few hours. I ruined my jewelry. It actually turned black! I was so sad. I had some very expensive silver band bracelets. I put it away and thought it was a big financial loss. Yesterday, I was at Ross Dress For Less and saw a jar of W e i m a n jewelry cleaner for three dollars. I thought, why not try it. To my shock, it removed 90% of the black on my silver jewelry. I used a soft toothbrush to clean the pieces. Then I took some toothpaste and gently brushed it, and now all my jewelry pieces look like brand new. So this is a your tip — if you ever do what I did.

    Reply
  26. 48

    Thank you for posting this! I did this tonight and I definitely see a difference. My bracelets need a little more work .. maybe I should have let it soak a little longer ? Didn’t want to go pass 10 mins and something happened .. I want to do it again should I wait some time before trying it again ? Will soaking longer than 10 mins cause problems ?

    Reply
    • 49

      I’m glad this worked for you! I wouldn’t know about the results of leaving it in the solution for longer, although one of the other commenters has suggested that her jewellery turned black when she did this – check out her comment for a great tip on what to do if this happens!

      Reply
  27. 50

    Thanks so much for the tip, I can’t believe how well it actually worked! I found two pandora rings in my drawer that I haven’t worn for years and they had turned black and thought they would have to be chucked away. Anyway I tried this and now they are back to silver and looking as good as new and ready to be sold on eBay haha! Thanks again x

    Reply
  28. 51

    To maintain jewellery first of all, keep it away from any chemical or perfume. To clean the jewellery, use tooth paste and rub it or you can use milk or washing powder. You can also use the dry or wet cloth for cleaning.

    Reply
  29. 52

    I’ve been looking for something to clean my Pandora bracelet for over7 years…This actually really worked! The only thing before this that had given any results worth mentioning was crest toothpaste. I use it to clean everything from costume jewelry to my fine jewelry pieces. (Add a clear coat of fingernail polish to the costume jewelry after cleaning it. No more “green” spots on your skin giving away the fact it’s not real. Thanks so much for saving my Pandora bracelet!

    Reply
  31. 55

    Thank you so much ! I had put my Pandora bracelet in a box after ruining it with silver jewelry cleaner. Now I’m wearing it with pride and ordering more charms. Think I’m going to try this on a couple of silver chains that have dulled. Thanks again!! Keep us posted if you come up with any more tricks!

    Reply
  32. 56

    I am devastated!!!!! I made the WORST mistake ever by leaving my Pandora bracelet in jewelry cleaner for several hours. When I removed it, all I could do was cry. I don’t know why I didn’t do research on how to clean silver before putting it in the cleaner. My bracelet and charms are so severely tarnished that they look like a dark brass or dirty gold color…every one of the charms looks beyond repair. My only hope is to try this and see what happens. I’m praying and crossing my fingers.

    Reply
  34. 58

    Qi always clean my Pandora bracelet in my Ultrasonic cleaner, which you can buy reasonably cheaply from most jewellers. They also supply the sachets of cleaning fluid that you add to the machine that you then dilute with water. I always take my charms off and only clean the pure silver ones as you can still ruin the the ones with special finishes on them. Then after they are cleaned I rub them with a silver jewellery cloth and then rub them over with the anti-tarnish side of the cloth. Once a year or so, I take my bracelet into one of the Pandora stores where they will polish all the charms and the bracelet for free for you and give it ita check up. This is so worth doing, as the bracelets are worth a lot of money and are of great sentimental value to us. I would really recommend this way of cleaning the bracelet to the silver plating method as I believe it to be safer and gentler on your precious bracelets and I have 3 of them – I admit to being a bit obsessed, but I have been collecting them for over 10 years .

    Reply

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