Cheryl, thanks for sharing this info! 🙂

Hi!
I like to use velvet-lined, clear lidded jewelry display boxes I’ve found on Amazon. Valdler is the company name that I’m extremely happy with.

I purchased on line 100 of the Desiccant silica packs at a very cheap price. I put them in the box with jewelry.

Claudia, I’ve never experimented with any type of charcoal or new (clean) cat litter, but it does seem logical that they could be useful in combating moisture and tarnishing on jewelry.

If you do experiment with them, will you please let us know how the work (or don’t work)? Thanks so much! 🙂

Claudia, thank you for your lovely comment, and for sharing your helpful tip!

Or… this may sound gross…. sorry if it does… but what about new clean cat litter/clay and silica particles? Placed in organza drawstring bags.
Just random thoughts to everyday issues.

Debbie, be sure not to get the cloth wet.
Do not ever wash it. Once the non-garnish jewelry cloth gets wet, it loses its impregnated chemical solution that makes it effective.

I keep my earrings on cards that are always on a rotating display and my bracelets on velvet bracelet bars when displayed and in storage. I keep the displays wrapped in the Pacific cloth.
Obviously it helps, but not enough for this air. Andis you stated..talk about time consuming to clean not to mention the damage to the earring cards. It’s a royal pain. I spent 3 hours cleaning before my last show, when I had a million other things to do.

Thanks for the trash bag idea, I’m actually thinking of trying one of those storage bags you can vacuum the air out of. I’ll let you all know how that works.

I love the chalk idea. I will try this. Could I just keep the pieces in the cardboard container they come in?

One thing I’m trying now, (I had this idea while on a friends boat… it’s common that most boat owners use silica gel beads in containers to help manage humidity in the cabin) it seems to help and I’ll explain why… I bought about a gallon of those little silica gel beads… double bagged some of those small organza tie bags and filled them with the beads and tied them closed. I place these in and around my jewelry when stored. The silica beads I bought start out as one color, then, as they absorb moisture etc, they change colors. Some days this takes longer than others. Once they have changed, you can just toss the bags on a cookie sheet and bake them low to dry them out again and reuse….

Now, you have brought up something I need to look into, I’m not sure if my card stock I’m using is acid free… I’ll look into that now.

Thank you for all the great articles. I could sit here and read for days! I learn so many new things from all of the contributors on your site. It’s like I have ‘friends’ in the business, a stones throw away.

Much love… Cs

Thanks for sharing this info, Margaret!

Rachelle, a great find! 🙂

Hello I have so many things to ask and say… But I think I’ll stick to the silica pks. I was at Hobby Lobby one evening while picture frames were being unboxed and the little pks were all over the place! They were glad to let me take as many as I wanted!

Check out jewelry boxes by Colleen Lopez at hsn.com. She has several w/ display windows. All of her boxes have “Jewel Guard” which it says prevents tarnish. (The fabric lining in the boxes is what prevents the tarnish). For a great ring display case, check out item # 401-714 “Colleen’s Prestige™ Croco-Embossed Art Jewelry Display Box”. Watch the video. It can also be used to display necklaces. It’s made so that it can be mounted on the wall, if you’d like. I think that many of her boxes w/ the display windows could be mounted to a wall, if you add the hardware to do it. The specific one I listed here already has the hardware for it to be mounted. You could also stand the cases up on plate holders. Easy to find plate holders on-line or at craft stores. I think the easel style would be the easiest to hold the boxes. The Colleen Lopez Prestige brand at hsn.com used to have fabulous ring boxes w/ rows of pillow like rolls, where you put the rings in between the rolls. The small ones were called something like the Colleen Lopez Prestige croco embossed stackable ring boxes. I don’t see them on hsn right now, but you could check back periodically. I know they sell out, then after a while they get more in. It also came in a fabulous large size ring box. I just now looked at hsn for you & saw a box to display earrings; it has the anti-tarnish fabric. It’s item # 605-047, called “Colleen’s Prestige™ Croco-Embossed Dangle Earrings Jewelry Box”. You wouldn’t have to cover your display boxes w/ pilllowcases. You’d be able to view them all the time & enjoy them yourself, as well as having them ready for whenever guests arrive. Best wishes to you!

Hi Bonnie, it’s very possible that the box and/or the filler could be the cause of the tarnishing. In my experience, the best things to do when you finish each piece of jewelry:
1) clean the piece of jewelry; make sure it’s clean and dry.
2) put the jewelry into a jewelry ziplock bag; and put a small no-tarnish strip (available at most jewelry suppliers) in the ziplock bag with your jewelry.
3) then every 3 to 6 months, change the no-tarnish strip for a fresh strip.
If you’ll be using boxes for your sold jewelry, I recommend keeping the jewelry item closed up inside the ziplock bag.

Helen, don’t feel bad about the tarnish issue. Most of us have had the unpleasant surprise of tarnish – and have had to clean a lot of jewelry. 🙂 Here’s another post with good tips for avoiding tarnish – and be sure to read the comments below the post: How to Keep Jewelry Metals from Corroding in Salty Sea Air? (these tips work whether you’re near a salty sea area or not). Wishing you all the best as you find the best tarnish-avoidance strategies for you – so you can get back to focusing on creating and selling your wonderful jewelry! 🙂

Thank you, Helen! And you may be right that not having some way of squeezing all the air out of the jar before sealing would probably not create the same results as squeezing the air out of a zip-close baggie.

Many thanks for your reply. I’ll try a couple of small jars with findings in and see how they ‘survive’. Jars compared to bags would be easier when getting the smaller findings out, but as I cannot squeeze out the air prior to closing each time they may not be as successful as bags I guess in reducing tarnish. I’ll do a small test run and leave a comment on my results to assist anyone else who might have the same idea.

My pleasure, Bethany, and let me know how it works for you! 🙂

Helen, I think that most air-tight containment methods would help prevent tarnish, so I bet your glass screw-top jars would work. 🙂

Hi Bethany! You may want to use acid-free cardstock for your jewelry display cards. You can find some sources with a Google search for “acid free cardstock”. Alternatively, you could laminate your jewelry cards (or use packing tape to “laminate” them). I hope these ideas help – and congratulations on getting started with selling your jewelry at shows! 🙂

Hi Kristine! Keeping each jewelry item in its own zip-close jewelry baggie, and include the jewelry tag/card with it is one of the best ways to make sure your jewelry won’t tarnish in the store. The atmosphere in beauty salons is particularly hard on jewelry because of the airborne chemicals. Outdoor shows in some regions can also make jewelry tarnish quickly.

Hi Zee, you might want to have each piece of jewelry in its own jewelry ziplock bag, tightly closed. I hope this helps! 🙂

Debbie, thanks for asking! I’ve never had the tarnish cloth need to be replaced. But the strips need to be replaced periodically – the package should tell you how often.

Sprayed my jewelry with the coating on Monday (6 days ago)
so far NO tarnish or discoloration!

The best part is some of the Jewelry I tested on were extremely cheap and would’ve normally turned my skin green after only an hour! Definitely recommend this company they seem to know what they’re doing

Hi Sunil, many jewelry supply online stores carry bulk packages of no tarnish strips. You might start by doing a google search for “jewelry no tarnish strips bulk package”. I hope this helps! 🙂

Lynne, I think so – I’ve heard from jewelry artists who use those gel packs, or the little dessicant packages that come in shoe boxes, or the ones that come in vitamin pill bottles!

Jennifer

Julie, after you clean these bracelets, put each one in a clear plastic jewelry ziplock baggie, along with a no-tarnish strip. Keep the baggies tightly sealed. That should help the bracelets resist tarnish. Also, you may want to exchange each no-tarnish strip for a fresh one every 3 to 6 months. I hope this helps, and I wish you an exciting and profitable Fall season with your jewelry business!

Hi Dorinda! If you provide an additional treatment on your jewelry (such as your acrylic spray), be sure to disclose that fact verbally and on your jewelry cards, so customers who have skin sensitivities to acrylic or lacquer products will know.

Great idea to have a little “boutique” set up at home, Libba!

To keep tarnish and dust at bay, what about making “pillow case” display covers from silver-cloth? (Also called Pacific cloth, available at fabric stores – mine came from Hancock Fabric.) The silver-cloth helps prevent tarnish on your jewelry, and you could make the pillow cases just the right size to drop one over each of your loaded displays. Then, whenever you’ll be having guests, you can quickly whisk the pillow cases off the displays to make your jewelry visible again. 🙂

Thanks for any sugestions

Silica Gel Silicon Packets

That’s good to know, Julia – and also nice that they can be recycled in such a useful way! Thank you for sharing this helpful tip. 🙂

Hi Irene, thank you for asking. I have never used orange juice or lemon juice on jewelry components, so I don’t know what affect they might have.

I have also never applied clear nail polish to metal jewelry components and don’t know how well that might work, or what drawbacks there might be.

However, the best way to find out is to experiment on similar components that you wouldn’t mind getting messed up if it turned out that the juices / nail polish were damaging to them. It’s better to test a few components than a finished piece of jewelry you like. 🙂

Hi Paula, the no-tarnish cloth is available at many fabric stores (such as Hancock Fabric in the U.S.). They may call it “silver cloth” or “pacific cloth”.

Small jewelry bags are available from most jewelry suppliers, bead shops, etc.

Bev, I’m sure sidewalk chalk would work just as well – but it may be easier to use small chunks of it since those chalk sticks are so big! 🙂

Renee, interesting about using orange juice – I hadn’t heard of that before but it makes sense.

Michelle, the no-tarnish fabric and strips should work equally well on copper. The tiny amount of copper that’s in sterling silver is why sterling tarnishes – so if the no-tarnish fabric and strips work on sterling silver, they should work on copper too.

I have a question though, as I couldn’t see it mentioned here…… which metals (other than silver) does the silver tarnish fabric and no-tarnish strips work for? Is it okay with copper for instance? This is what I mainly work with…….

Has anyone experience with this?