Storing silver so it does not tarnish in a drawer

Silver worn every day stays bright almost by accident. Silver put away carefully in a lined box comes out six months later grey and blotchy, and the owner concludes it was not real silver. It was. The box was the problem. Tarnish is a chemical reaction with specific ingredients, and almost every traditional jewellery storage material supplies one of them. Once you know which, the fix costs a few pounds and takes ten minutes.

What tarnish actually is

The grey brown film on neglected silver is silver sulfide. It forms when sulfur bearing gases in ordinary indoor air reach the metal surface, and it builds faster when the air is humid, because moisture helps the reaction along. Oxygen on its own is not the villain here, despite the word oxidised being used loosely for the result.

The sterling alloy makes it slightly worse. The 7.5 per cent that is not silver is usually copper, and copper discolours on its own account, which is why tarnish on sterling often has warm brown and purple tones in it rather than being evenly grey.

This is why tarnish is not a defect and not a sign of a cheap piece. It is what silver does in air. The only question is how fast, and that is almost entirely about what you store it with.

The materials in your house that accelerate it

Wool and felt are the big ones, and they are also the traditional lining for jewellery boxes and cutlery cases. Wool contains sulfur in its protein structure and gives it off slowly for the whole life of the fabric. A wool lined box is a small sealed chamber with a sulfur source in it, which is close to a laboratory setup for growing tarnish.

Rubber is worse per gram. Rubber bands, latex, and the rubber feet or seals in some containers all off gas sulfur compounds. Never bundle a chain with an elastic band, and do not keep silver in a container with a rubber gasket if you can use a polyethylene seal instead.

Then the quieter ones. Cardboard and newspaper, because paper pulp retains sulfur compounds from processing. Some paints, adhesives and MDF while they are still curing. Gas appliances and candle smoke. Onions, eggs and mustard in a kitchen. Sea air. Chlorine from a pool, which attacks the metal directly rather than merely tarnishing it. And your own sweat left on the piece, which is salty and keeps working after you take the piece off.

What to store it in instead

A zip seal polyethylene bag with the air pressed out is a better home for silver than most jewellery boxes, and it costs almost nothing. Reduce the air volume and you reduce the available sulfur. Use polyethylene, the ordinary food bag plastic, rather than PVC, which releases chloride as it ages and can corrode metal.

Add an anti tarnish strip. These are usually activated carbon or zinc based and work by absorbing sulfur gases before they reach the silver. Manufacturers typically quote a useful life of six months to a year inside a sealed container, so read the pack and write the date on it. A silica gel sachet alongside, keeping relative humidity down, slows the reaction further.

Tarnish resistant cloth, the type impregnated with fine silver particles, works on the same principle and is more pleasant to handle than a bag. Pouches and rolls made from it are sold for cutlery and work equally well for jewellery. Plain cotton is neutral and fine as a scratch barrier, but it does nothing chemically.

Dry it first, and keep the pieces apart

Sealing a damp piece in an airtight bag is worse than leaving it on a shelf. Water in a bale, a clasp spring or a hollow component has nowhere to go and the humidity in a small sealed volume goes straight to the top. Wipe the piece with a soft dry cloth and leave it out for an hour before it goes away, every time.

Store pieces individually. Silver is soft, around 2.5 to 3 on the Mohs scale, and a chain bagged loose with a ring will mark both. For oxidised work the stakes are higher, because rubbing is exactly what removes an applied patina: two blackened pieces in one bag will polish each other at every contact point. A piece like The Skull and the Wing wants its own compartment.

Chains go away with the clasp done up. A fastened chain cannot thread itself through its own loops, which is the mechanism behind every tangle. Lay it flat or hang it rather than coiling it tightly, and never bend a flat snake or herringbone chain to fit a small box, because those kink permanently.

Where not to keep it

The bathroom, for two reasons. The humidity is high for an hour or more after every shower, and aerosols, hairspray and perfume land on everything on an open shelf. A bathroom cabinet is the single worst place in a house for silver and is where most people keep it.

A windowsill or an open dish in a kitchen. Cooking produces sulfur compounds and the piece collects a fine film of cooking grease that holds dirt against the metal.

A wool lined box, a cardboard gift box long term, and any drawer with rubber bands rattling about in it. If the box is the attractive part of the arrangement, keep the box and put the piece inside it in a sealed bag with a strip. The box stays on the dressing table and the chemistry happens in your favour.

Blackened pieces, and when to just wear the thing

Deliberately darkened pieces are not exempt. Accidental tarnish forms on top of the applied patina and reads as grubbiness rather than depth, going grey and slightly mottled over the whole surface including the high points that are supposed to be bright. The storage advice is identical, with the extra rule that an oxidised piece must never be cleaned with anything abrasive once it looks dull.

Worth saying plainly: the best anti tarnish measure for most jewellery is wearing it. Regular contact and handling keep surfaces moving, and a piece in circulation rarely gets the undisturbed months in still air that heavy tarnish needs. The exception is sweat, which is why a worn piece still wants a wipe before it goes away.

If you own one piece you wear constantly, such as The Cat in the Frame, and three you wear twice a year, put the effort into storing the three. The one you wear will look after itself.

Questions people actually ask

What makes silver tarnish faster in a drawer?

Sulfur bearing materials stored with it, plus humidity. Wool and felt linings release sulfur for the life of the fabric, rubber bands and latex release more per gram, and cardboard and newspaper contribute too. A sealed polyethylene bag with the air pressed out is better than most lined boxes.

Do anti tarnish strips work?

Yes, inside a sealed container. They absorb the sulfur gases that cause tarnish before those gases reach the metal. Manufacturers usually quote six months to a year of useful life, so check the pack and note the date you put one in. A silica gel sachet alongside helps by keeping humidity down.

Should I store silver jewellery in a bag or a box?

A sealed polyethylene bag or a tarnish resistant cloth pouch beats an open or wool lined box, because less air and less sulfur reach the metal. Store each piece separately so nothing rubs, and make sure the piece is completely dry first, since sealing in moisture is worse than leaving it out.