Whether it comes to your jewelry – either fine or costume – there’s nothing wrong with seeing them as sentimental. When you buy a piece of jewelry, you would like it to last forever, right?
In this article, we understand the importance of caring for even the most precious jewelry that you might own. With that said, here are six quick and easy tips to take better care of your jewelry to prevent those annoying tarnishes, scratches, and dullness.
- Store In A Ziplock Bag
You may want to avoid storing precious jewelry (especially precious metal) in a humid place (i.e. the bathroom). Also, if you live in a humid place, then extra care should be taken, as well as more cleaning procedures. Humidity will only speed up tarnishing, because over time, your jewelry comes in contact with moisture and air, which causes it to tarnish.
The best way to store your jewelry is to put them in a Zip-lock bag, and squeeze out all the air before sealing.
- Wash Your Jewelry
While this is the simplest cleaning step to do, it’s still essential for you to do, as you care for your jewelry. For most jewelry, they can definitely benefit from it.
For most jewelry, you can use warm water with a gentle liquid soap. These soaps can be:
- Castile soap
- Mild dish soap
- Soap for woolens
- Hand soap (with no moisturizer or harsh chemicals)
As you clean pieces that are dull, filmy, or discoloring, mix a few drops of soap with warm water, and then rub the jewelry with a soft cloth or a soft-bristled brush to clean every crevice.
Once you rinse the piece with water, make sure you quickly dry it well.
But whatever you do: Don’t use toothpaste. What was once a home remedy can actually be too abrasive, and can even do more harm than good to your jewelry.
- No Harsh Cleaning
As mentioned above, toothpaste is an obsolete method for cleaning your jewelry. Even baking soda can be an obsolete method, removing tiny amounts of metal every time they’re applied to the metal, thus damaging your jewelry.
Also, when using a polishing cloth or brush, make sure you don’t scrub or rub too hard, especially if your jewelry has a more delicate finish (i.e. gilding, vermeil, plating, any patina or coloring). In other words, too much care can actually do more harm than good! So, practice caution when cleaning.
- Use A Polishing Cloth
Many metals from jewelry can tarnish over time. These metals, specifically, include:
- Sterling silver
- Lower carats of gold
- Other metals vulnerable to moisture
While tarnishing can be a normal process with metal, it can easily be cleaned off of precious metals. And, while soap and water can be used to clean off the tarnish, another option is a polishing cloth. A lot of jewelry stores, craft stores, etc. have good quality polishing cloths for reasonable prices, or they might include them when you buy a piece of jewelry.
Once you wipe down the jewelry with a polishing cloth, you can give it a rinse, and then dry it to remove any chemical residue.
- Use Silver Dip
For quick and easy tarnish-removing, you might want to use a solution called silver dip. Silver dip works well on sterling silver, silver chains, etc., which can be difficult to clean with only a polishing cloth.
You can find silver dip, or similar solutions, at your local supermarket, a pharmacy, or a hardware shop. However, you must follow the instructions of the solution carefully, and always make sure to rinse well and dry when you’re finished.
- Don’t Overuse An Ultrasonic Or Silver Dip
If you have the following silver jewelry:
- Lapis lazuli
- Japanese pendant
- Turquoise
- Pearls
… may have intentional blackened areas as part of the design, then avoid ultrasonic cleaning. This type of cleaning can actually damage some finishes and soft gemstones.
In addition, avoid using silver dip on these types of silver jewelry, so that you don’t damage some finishes and gemstones.
Conclusion
Ultimately, all jewelry can use some adequate care and attention, so that they can look their sparkling best. So, if you’re not sure where to start, you can look to these six tips on how to properly care for your jewelry. We hope that these tips are useful to where your jewelry may last a lifetime.
About the author
Kristin Herman is a writer and editor at Boomessays.com and Australianhelp.com. She is also a contributing writer for various sites and publications, such as Paperfellows.com. As a tech enthusiast; she blogs about trending tech news. And, as a project manager, she creates and oversees many business projects nationwide.
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