Jewelry Care

* To keep the beauty of your jewelry: Avoids sharp blows, harsh chemicals, and extreme temperatures.
* All jewelry should be stored in its original box or pouch separately, as this will prevent scratches on the metal and stones.
* Put on your jewelry after using hair spray or perfume.
* Remove your jewelry before household tasks as cleaning, washing or gardening.
* Do not shower or bathe with your jewelry.
* Clean sterling silver using a tarnish removing polish cloth.

Safely Cleaning Delicate Jewelry

Be careful when cleaning jewelry, ESPECIALLY when cleaning jewelry that contains fragile gemstones! Before cleaning by any method, check the piece of jewelry to be sure it’s sound and in good repair. Check for loose stones and anything else that seems weak or not in good shape.

And don’t ever use anything for cleaning jewelry that has abrasives or bleach. Both of these damage silver and many stones! That includes toothpaste (especially tooth-whitening toothpastes), scouring powder, baking soda, or creamy opaque jewelry cleaners.

And although it’s sometimes helpful to use a small brush for cleaning jewelry, I don’t recommend using an old toothbrush. It’s likely to have a tiny residue of toothpaste on it, which may scratch your metal and stones. Use a brand-new toothbrush, and keep it just for scrubbing jewelry!

 

Cleaning Gemstone Jewelry

IMPORTANT: Be careful when cleaning jewelry with stones that are notoriously delicate:

Amber
Coral
Drusy
Emeralds
Foil-backed glass stones
Malachite
Mother of pearl
Opals
Pearls
Peridot
Unstabilized turquoise

These delicate gems need VERY gentle cleaning. They should not be exposed to ammonia, hot solutions, ultrasonic cleaning, or any abrasives.

The best jewelry cleaners for these delicate items are:

1) A gentle, nonabrasive cleaner called Jewelry Joose, which you can spray on, rub gently and wash off, or else soak several pieces in it. It's safe for all metals and gems.

2) An ionic jewelry cleaner such as the SpeedBrite, which is considered generally safe for all metals and stones. Ionic jewelry cleaners do not use heat, sound waves, or abrasives, and they do an excellent job of removing tarnish and dirt very quickly. Ionic jewelry cleaners are available from many sources on the Internet; shop carefully because prices can vary widely.

(Note: do not clean drusy stones in an ionic cleaner because of their delicate crystal structure.)

Preventing and Removing Sterling Silver Tarnish

For plain sterling silver jewelry (with no stones), you can also get good results using commercial silver dip liquid, polish paste, or polish cloth. I wouldn’t use these products on jewelry containing gemstones, though.

Windex is often used to shine up silver and gold jewelry, including some gemstones (but not the delicate stones listed above; also don’t use Windex or any other ammonia solution on oxidized sterling silver, since the ammonia can damage the oxidized finish). Spray Windex on the jewelry, wait a few moments, rinse, and wipe clean with a soft, dry cloth.

But again, I recommend an ionic cleaner to remove tarnish and quickly get sterling silver sparkling like new.

Steam and other hot methods of cleaning are safe for metals and all but the delicate stones listed above. To steam clean jewelry at home, slowly boil a solution of trisodium phosphate and water in a saucepan. Hang the jewelry in the pan—being very careful not to get burned by the steam!--on a small wire hooked over the edge of the pan. Don’t let the jewelry touch the bottom of the pan.

Ultrasonic cleaners are safe to use on most jewelry EXCEPT the delicate stones listed above, and Tanzanite. Small home models of ultrasonic cleaners are available in many stores.

Okay, after cleaning jewelry, how do you keep it from tarnishing and becoming dull again? I recommend keeping jewelry tightly sealed in zippered plastic bags with no-tarnish strips (available from most jewelry suppliers) inside with the jewelry. Change the no-tarnish strips every 3 to 6 months, depending on where you live and how fast jewelry tends to tarnish.

Cleaning Liquid Silver
To clean tarnished liquid silver, sprinkle a fair amount of dry baking powder on a soft cloth and hold it in the palm of your hand. Rub the strands of liquid silver while carefully pulling them through the cloth. After cleaning the strands, shake them to remove excess powder.