There’s nothing better than the shine of a new piece of jewellery.

It might be a special personalised silver bangle celebrating the birth of your new baby, or a treasured silver necklace your partner just bought you for your anniversary. But when the glint of the sparkling silver catches a friend’s eye and they compliment you on how pretty it looks – it’s a great feeling.

But with the wear and tear of everyday life, even the most prized possessions can start to loose their shimmer.

So, the question is:

How’d you keep your personalised silver bangles, bracelets and rings looking brand new?

Of course, you can just go out and buy run-of-the-mill silver polish. But that can be a little on the expensive side and there are actually a load of more natural solutions for getting dirt off your silver jewellery that are, er, dirt-cheap.

Below the Belle & Bee family workshop share their top secrets on keeping your sterling silver looking ship shape.

Top Tip One: White Vinegar

White vinegar is a classic for cleaning and works pretty good on sterling silver too.

You want to be looking to fill about half a cup with the white vinegar and then to get things moving, you need to mix in the secret weapon when it comes to cleaning – baking soda. You should add two tablespoons and stir well.

Pop your personalised silver bangle, bracelet or necklace in the cup and leave it to soak for between two and three hours.

Once the time is up, rinse well and dry your jewellery thoroughly. It should be sparkling like the day you bought it.

And if you want to stack up your rejuvenated bangle or bracelet with an equally shinning piece, you could treat yourself to a new one here:

Click here to see our brand new personalised silver bangles.

Top Tip Two: Lemon Juice and Olive Oil

Not got any white vinegar lying around the house?

Not a problem.

How about lemon juice and olive oil? Most households have this stuff spare in the kitchen cupboards and mixed together and applied to a cloth, it can often help bring a shine back to old silver.

You should look to mix half a cup of lemon juice with just one teaspoon of olive oil. Stir it well and then dip a cloth into the mixture so it’s well covered, but wring the cloth to make sure it’s not dripping all over the place.

Apply the cloth to the silver and polish away.

When you start to see the silver shining and the dirt is coming away, then rinse the silver and – very importantly – dry it well.

We’ve found it works well when polishing up our personalised silver bangles here in the Belle & Bee family workshop.

You can see the whole range here.

Top Tip Three: Silver Aluminium Foil

A lot of people swear by this third option.

It’s a bit more involved when it comes to preparing the cleaning solution and it sounds a little intense…but it delivers.

You’ll need a small pan full of water, some baking soda and some silver aluminium foil.

To prepare the mixture, you bring the water to the boil. Once it’s there, let it simmer and add in a tablespoon of baking soda. Stir well but be careful, as the water will be hot.

Now you drop in a piece of aluminium foil, about as big as an A4 piece of paper. The mixture should still be at boiling point, so bring it back up to heat if it’s cooled a little.

Here you drop the silver bangle, bracelet or necklace in the pan and let it stew for about 10 seconds. If it’s really tarnished, you might need a little longer. Once the time is up, remove the jewellery with a pair of tongs or a serving spoon.

Sounds pretty intense, but it can work wonders when it comes to bringing the shine back to your sterling silver.

Just be careful when it comes to handling the pan and jewellery on this one.

Other top tips…

Of course, there is always soap and water.

If the tarnish is very light then a good soak in soapy warm water can usually get a personalised silver bangle looking brand new again.

And here’s one final tip to help prevent tarnishing your jewellery in the first place...

When you’re getting ready in the morning, or for an evening out, make sure you put perfume or aftershave on BEFORE you put on your jewellery.

That way, you’re less likely to be left with a residue on your personalised silver bangle or necklace and it’ll attract less dirt.

Oh, and by the way, don’t think keeping your sterling silver jewellery only for best will keep it new…it’s actually better to wear your silver jewellery more often as the constant rub and movement helps prevent it getting tarnished.

Of course, if you’ve got an old bangle or bracelet that you just can’t seem to get back to it’s best – you can always treat yourself to a new one.

It’s the perfect excuse.

In fact, you could well treat yourself to one of our beautiful personalised silver bangles, which will be hand crafted and made bespoke for you so it’s shining bight.

Click here to see which personalised silver bangle is right for you.