How to Keep Your Fine Jewelry Sparkling Clean
After months (or years!) of wear, you may not notice that your jewelry has lost its original brightness and luster. Natural skin oils, lotions, and environmental elements, such as dirt and dust, build up over time, making jewelry look dull or cloudy. Luckily, there are a few essential tools to safely clean your jewelry at home between visits to your jeweler to have your pieces professionally cleaned.
Remember that these tools work best for sturdier types of jewelry, such as gold, platinum, and diamonds. Delicate gemstones, such as opals, pearls, or emeralds, are much more fragile and should be handled with care by a professional. Before undertaking such measures at home, be sure you know the material your jewelry is made of, and if you have questions, have your jewelry examined by a professional.
A few at-home DIY tools keep your jewelry clean. Mild dish soap diluted with water is a gentle soaking solution for your jewelry. A small, soft-bristle toothbrush is ideal for gently brushing away oil or dirt build-up. Finally, baking soda is a fantastic home remedy for cleaning gold, platinum, or silver.
Good old soap and water are classic cleaning solutions. Mix a few drops of liquid dish soap into a lukewarm cup or two of water, gently mix, and place your jewelry into the mixture for a minute. This essential combination helps to remove the build-up of oil and dirt gently.
Once you remove your jewelry from the soap and water solution, rinse your jewelry with warm water. If needed, apply gentle strokes from the soft toothbrush to get deeper into the harder-to-reach areas, smaller stones, prongs, and the inside or underside of the piece. This part of the jewelry makes the most direct contact with the skin and usually requires the most attention. Once you’ve finished some light, gentle scrubbing with the toothbrush, re-submerge your jewelry into the soap-and-water solution, give it a good swish, rinse again, and dry thoroughly with a cloth that won’t shed too many fibers or lint.
If you have tarnished silver or gold and platinum that have lost their shine, baking soda can be a highly effective substance for deep cleaning. Make a paste using a small amount of baking soda mixed in a bowl with lukewarm water. Coat the piece of jewelry in the paste and put the soft toothbrush to work, gently scrubbing it and then rinsing it with lukewarm water. For silver, a polishing cloth can be inexpensively purchased and serve as a great compliment to baking soda cleaning.
These are easy and simple techniques for caring for your jewelry at home. However, it is wise to have your finer jewelry pieces professionally cleaned once a year and have the prongs and settings checked to ensure they are solid and secure. Like a car with regular use, jewelry can also use a tune-up, so feel free to stop by KFK Jewelers to consult with our experts to keep your jewelry sparkling for a lifetime of wear.