The Best Ways To Clean Your Jewelry At Home: From Gold To Pearls

Cleaning your jewelry should be on top on your maintenance list. Since your accessories give your outfit the wow factor it should be kept clean and sparkling at all times.

• Gold

Gold is one of the precious metals anyone can own but we often forget that they can tarnish because of the alloys used in making the jewelry. A large portion of all solid gold jewelry on the market contains some type of alloy with the exception of 24k (pure gold).  Not only that, gold jewelry collects dirt and grime and loses it’s luster over time.

Cleaning it-

• Hot water
• colander
• Pan
• Soft cloth

Method:

Bring water to a boil. place your gold jewelry on the soft colander( do not use a metal colander because it can scratch your metal jewelry). Pour the hot water on the gold jewelry and wait for it to cool down. Rub and polish the jewelry dry by using small circular motions, being careful not to tug chains too tight. Make sure the jewelry is completely dry before you put it away.

• Fragile Jewelry

These are the pearls, opals, emeralds, glass and glued jewelry etc, much care should be taken whilst cleaning these because they can break easily.

• Lukewarm water

• Mild Hand Soap (avoid antibacterial varieties & other harsh additives)

• Soft cloth/old cotton tee shirt/microfiber cloth
• Soft bristled toothbrush (only if necessary)

Method:

Pour two drops of the mild hand soap detergent into the lukewarm water in a bowl . Drop the jewelry into the water for about two minutes, use the toothbrush to scrub any dirt and grime gently. Be sure to rinse the solution off completely with just lukewarm water as any soap residue can damage the stone. Pat dry gently with a soft cloth.

• Silver Jewelry

Silver jewelry are affordable and beautiful but tarnishes easily.

• Glass or aluminum pan
• 1 cup Boiling Water
• 1/2 cup Vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Baking Soda
• 1 tablespoon Salt

• Soft cloth/old cotton tee shirt/microfiber cloth
• Tongs/tweezers

Method:

Line the bottom of your pan or dish with aluminum foil. Mix salt and baking soda together in pan. SLOWLY pour the vinegar into the pan. There will be a reaction here between the baking soda and the vinegar, so use caution. Then slowly add the boiling water to the mixture. Drop your jewelry into the solution, making sure all jewelry is touching the aluminum foil and isn’t overlapping one another. Let the jewelry sit for 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on how tarnished your jewelry is.

The tarnish removal should be somewhat instantaneous. Remove the jewelry with tongs. Pat dry with a soft cloth

• Diamond Jewelry

• Mild dish detergent
• Club soda
• Soft bristle toothbrush

Method:

Mix drops of mild detergent with the cup of club soda. The bubbles in the club soda will act as a gentle loosening agent to help get all that built up grime freed up from behind your diamonds. Let the jewelry soak for 20 minutes. Remove the jewelry and take a soft bristled toothbrush to the back of the stones to scrub off any dirt and grime. Be careful to not scratch the setting. Let the jewelry soak one last time for a good 15-20 minutes, then rinse with lukewarm water and pat dry with a soft cloth.