The way to keep earrings from tarnishing is to limit what they react with: keep them dry, keep lotion, perfume and hair products off them, clean them gently, and store them sealed away from air and moisture. Those habits slow tarnish on any metal. They can't stop it on a metal that tarnishes by nature, though, and that's the part most advice leaves out. Our safety FAQ covers everyday care.
What tarnish actually is
Tarnish is a chemical reaction on the surface of a metal. Silver reacts with sulfur compounds in the air and turns dark. Copper and brass react with oxygen and moisture and turn brown, then green. The metal isn't dirty. It's changed.
Some metals hardly react at all. Pure gold doesn't tarnish. S316L Surgical Steel carries a thin, invisible layer of chromium oxide that protects the surface and repairs itself when scratched.
So when earrings tarnish, it's almost always a reactive metal touching air, skin and moisture: sterling silver, brass, copper, or a plated finish that has worn through to one of them.
Why do my earrings tarnish so fast?
Usually for one of three reasons.
The plating is thin or worn. A gold or silver colored finish over brass looks fine until it thins. Then the base metal reacts, and tarnish spreads from the worn patches.
Her skin chemistry. Sweat, skin pH and how much she perspires all vary from child to child. The same earring tarnishes in weeks on one ear and stays bright for months on another.
What goes on her skin. Lotion, sunscreen, perfume, hairspray, chlorine and soap all react with reactive metals. A child who swims, plays sport and showers in her earrings puts them through a lot.
How to keep earrings from tarnishing, step by step
- On last, off first. Lotion, sunscreen, perfume and hair products go on before her earrings and come off after. Products applied straight onto jewelry are one of the biggest drivers of tarnish.
- Take them out for swimming. Chlorine and salt water both speed up tarnish on reactive metals.
- Dry them after any water. If her earrings get wet in the shower or the bath, pat the front and the back dry with a soft cloth.
- Clean gently once a week. Warm water, a drop of mild dish soap and a soft toothbrush. Rinse well and dry completely.
- Wipe, don't scrub. A soft, lint-free cloth removes skin oil without scratching. Abrasive cloths, toothpaste and baking soda wear plating away.
- Store them sealed. Air and humidity are what tarnish feeds on.
How to store earrings so they don't tarnish
- A small sealed bag or a lidded case, one pair per compartment so they don't rub
- Away from the bathroom, where steam and humidity are highest
- A silica gel packet in the box to absorb moisture
- Anti-tarnish strips for sterling silver, which absorb the sulfur compounds that darken it
There's more on boxes, travel and keeping pairs together in How should we store her earrings between wears?
How to stop plated jewelry from tarnishing
Plated jewelry is the hardest to protect, because the tarnish usually starts underneath. While the plating is intact, the base metal stays sealed in. Once friction wears the finish thin, the base metal reacts and you see dull patches and discoloration.
So the goal with plated earrings is to make the plating last.
- Avoid friction. Store pairs separately, and don't let her sleep in them if they catch on bedding.
- Avoid chemicals. Perfume, chlorine and cleaning products dissolve thin finishes.
- Skip the polish. Silver polish and jewelry dips remove a little of the surface every time.
Clear nail polish is often suggested as a barrier. It wears off within days and isn't something to put on a post that goes through her ear.
No one can tell you exactly how long a plated finish will last. It depends on the thickness, the base metal, her skin and how she wears it. A brand that promises it will never change color is estimating.
How to stop earrings from oxidizing
Oxidizing is the reaction behind most tarnish on brass, copper and other base metals. The steps above slow it down. Nothing reverses it on a plated piece once the base metal is exposed, because the change is in the metal itself. If a plated earring has turned dark or green at the post, it's past saving, and the post is the part inside her ear.
Which metals rust or corrode, and which don't, is covered in What type of earrings do not rust?
How to keep cheap jewelry from tarnishing
You can slow it with all of the above. You can't stop it, because cheap jewelry is usually plated brass, and brass tarnishes.
Here's what six months of daily wear tends to look like on an inexpensive pair. The finish goes dull. Patches wear through where the coating has rubbed. The posts turn a darker steel color where they were never finished properly, and the backs tarnish because they weren't given the same finish as the front. The whole earring ends up a blackish gray from water, lotion, soap and fragrance.
Notice where it starts: the post and the back. They take the most friction and they're often finished more cheaply than the front, so they go first, out of sight.
What we do
The most reliable way to keep earrings from tarnishing is to start with metals that don't react much. That's why we use two.
S316L Surgical Steel, used on its own throughout the Polished Surgical Steel range, front, post and butterfly back, with nothing plated over it. There's no finish to wear through.
24K Pure Gold, which is pure 24 karat gold applied onto a S316L Surgical Steel core with Aunix™ 24K, our engineered gold finish. Pure gold doesn't tarnish. It's still a gold-plating process, so the habits above help it last, and if the finish ever thins, the metal underneath is S316L Surgical Steel rather than brass. More on gold is in Do gold earrings tarnish?
Independently tested by SGS to ASTM F2923, CPSIA and BSEN 71-3, with nickel release not detected under EN 1811. Report BTO 341803/1.
If tarnish has been the problem, the 5mm Star Stud Earrings in S316L Surgical Steel have no finish to wear through. The full range is on the Polished Surgical Steel collection, and the pillar on what children's earrings are actually made of explains the metals in more depth.
Questions parents ask next
Can tarnished earrings hurt her ears? Tarnish itself is a surface change. What matters is the metal underneath, which on a worn plated earring may include nickel. If her lobe is red or itchy, take them out.
Can I clean tarnish off plated earrings? Gently, with soap and water. Polishes and dips remove plating along with the tarnish, so a plated pair usually looks worse afterwards.
Does sterling silver tarnish faster on some children? Yes. Skin chemistry, sweat and the products she uses all change how quickly silver darkens.
Should she take her earrings out to shower? For brass, silver and plated fashion jewelry, yes. Solid S316L Surgical Steel handles a shower well. Dry it afterwards.
Is a jewelry box enough to stop tarnish? It helps if it closes well. Adding a silica gel packet and keeping it out of the bathroom does more.
Related reading
- Do gold earrings tarnish?
- What type of earrings do not rust?
- How should we store her earrings between wears?
About the author. Matt Westmore is the founder of purepixxi. He came to children's jewelry from manufacturing and sourcing rather than marketing, which means he has walked the factory floors and knows what is actually inside a product rather than what a label says about it. purepixxi uses two materials only, names them exactly, and has them independently tested.
