Clean Jewelry Diy
6 Tips: Cleaning Jewelry at Home
Diamonds are forever, but even the most precious stone on earth can lose its sparkle over time. How do you keep your watch, wedding band, or engagement ring clean and sparkling?
How do you restore the shine of old gold, silver, and platinum items? Here are a few tips and hacks on how to keep your jewelry sparkling.
Before we get to the solution, we must address the problem. What makes shiny jewels lose their sparkling appeal? It depends on your lifestyle or daily routines.
Everyday wear and tear ruin the polish on precious metals and stones. Here are a few household items that can help you restore your jewelry's initial shine.
Household Items That Clean Jewelry
Keep your ring finger away from grease.
1. Aluminum Foil and Bleach-Free Detergents
This technique is ion exchange. You do not need a fancy lab or select chemicals to do this. All you need is some foil and some bleach-free detergent like Tide.
Line the interior of a small bowl with aluminum foil. Fill this bowl with hot water then add a tablespoon of the bleach-free powdered detergent.
Mix the solution then drop your jewelry into the bowl. Let the trinkets soak for about a minute. Rinse with clean water then air dry your jewelry pieces.
Watches are mechanical machines, and I would not recommend this technique to watches. Use the ion exchange technique to clean silverware.
Bleach-Free Detergent
2. Clean Jewelry With Ammonia
Experts in the industry use ammonia to brighten silver and gold trinkets. You can also clean your gold and silver wares utilizing this hack. A bottle of ammonia is available for sale online.
Dilute half a cup of clear ammonia with a cup of warm water. Wet a soft cloth with the resulting solution and wipe your silver and gold wares. Let your trinkets dry.
Do not use this technique on items that include pearls. Pearls are sensitive to ammonia.
3. Clean Jewelry With Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)
A thick paste of baking soda can remove built-up tarnish from silver items. Mix a quarter cup of baking soda and two tablespoons of water to a thick paste. Smear the paste to a damp sponge then rub the surface of your silver trinkets.
4.Clean Jewelry With Vinegar
Vinegar works miracles on pure silver jewelry. Mix half a cup of white vinegar and baking soda solution (2 tablespoons) in a bowl. Soak your pure silver wedding bands, bracelets, or chains in the mixture.
Let the silver soak for two to three hours before you rinse with cold water. To polish gold, sprinkle some baking soda, add a few drops of vinegar then rinse clean. Do not use this technique on gemstones and pearls.
5. Clean Jewelry With Vodka
A few drops of vodka can clean a variety of crystalline jewelry. These crystals include including diamonds and emerald gemstones.
Before you take a shot of vodka, dip a napkin into your drink and clean your diamond christened watch. Better yet, can dunk your diamond ring in your drink.
Cleaning jewelry is not the only cleansing power of vodka. Vodka is useful in cleaning all kinds of glass, especially reading glasses.
6. Window Cleaning Solutions
Spruce up your jewelry with some window cleaning solution. Window cleaners are also useful in cleansing all metal and all crystalline jewelry.
Spray some cleaning solution on your diamond ring and scrub with a toothbrush. I do not recommend this technique for opaque stones such as pearls, opal, and turquoise.
Window cleaning solutions contain ammonia which may de-colorize opaque crystals and stones.
Window Cleaning Concentrate
How to Keep the Shine on Your Jewelry
1. Keep Your Ring Fingers Away From Grease
Diamond attracts grease. To maintain the shine on your diamond ring, avoid all kinds of oil. If you have to handle oily or greasy items, at least remove your diamond ring.
2. Regular Cleaning
Use the tips discussed above to clean your precious pieces. Ammonia-based solutions like window cleaners work well for diamonds. Vinegar is perfect for pure silver. A combination of baking soda and vinegar works wonders for gold. Use soft cotton based cloths to polish metal and a soft toothbrush to scrub crystals.
3. Avoid Strong Chemical Solutions
Pearl, coral, turquoise, and opal based jewels are sensitive to ammonia. Avoid solutions like window cleaners and detergents. Harsh acids can erode metals, no matter how precious. Peroxide dissolves gold. Avoid having your jewelry on when handling such chemicals.
Pearl, coral, turquoise, and opal based jewels are sensitive to ammonia-based solutions.
Take Home
Precious metals and stones are valuable and costly. To an extent, purchasing jewelry is an investment. Do not let your investment lose value through wear and tear or tarnish.
Keep them shining, and they will keep you smiling.
© 2019 Jesse David Odhiambo