To keep its luster, all jewelry requires some care and attention. If you're unsure where to begin, we're here to help with our top 5 tips to quickly clean your emerald and opal jewelry and teach you how to clean and care for your gold, silver, and gemstone jewelry quickly and easily.
If you have more time and want to learn more about the issues and risks associated with cleaning jewelry, you should read our jewelry cleaning & care guide, which will provide you with all the information you need.
So let's get started.
1. Check Your Jewelry
It's easy to overlook that your jewelry requires cleaning, either because you wear it all the time and don't notice the changes or because it's stored somewhere and you don't look at it very often. You might be surprised to discover how filthy and dull some of your favorite pieces are.
The good news is that cleaning most jewelry pieces is simple. Continue reading to find out how.
2. Give It A Wash
This is the most basic cleaning step, benefiting almost all jewelry. You might find that it's all you need to do for many pieces, especially solid gold or fashion jewelry.
Warm water and a gentle colorless and fragrance-free liquid soap should be used to clean your jewelry. Castile soap, woolen soap, or even a gentle hand soap without moisturizer, antiseptic, or harsh chemicals should suffice.
To remove grime from crevices, use a cloth or a soft-bristled brush. Soft gems, such as opals or pearls, should not be left in water for an extended period as this may damage them.
When it's clean, rinse and dry it quickly and thoroughly.
3. Remove Tarnish With A Polishing Cloth
Sterling silver, in particular, will tarnish over time, but so will other precious metals, including lower carat gold. This is a normal metal process, and the tarnish is easily removed from precious metals.
If your precious jewelry has become tarnished, remove it with a precious metal cleaning cloth, such as the professional quality polishing cloths we sell in our online store.
Once satisfied, rinse and carefully dry the piece to remove any chemical residue.
4. Avoid Harsh Cleaning
Never use 'old wives' jewelry cleaning methods that involve rubbing toothpaste or baking soda onto the metal. These methods will remove tiny amounts of metal each time you use them, damaging and depleting your precious jewelry over time.
Gold vermeil, gold-filled, or plated jewelry, in particular, should never be cleaned in this manner, or it will be damaged. Learn more about the various types of gold jewelry to understand why this is the case.
Use caution when rubbing a polishing cloth, brush, or anything else against the metal, especially if your jewelry has a more delicate finish, such as gold plating, blackening, or a patina.
Excessive enthusiasm for jewelry cleaning could be harmful.
5. Store Your Jewelry Carefully
Now that your jewelry is clean consider how to best store it to avoid having to clean it again too soon.
Avoid storing precious metal jewelry in a humid environment, particularly in the bathroom, as this will hasten to tarnish. If you live in a humid area, you should take extra precautions and clean more frequently.
Precious metal jewelry should ideally be stored away from the open air, which will also help slow down tarnish and keep dust at bay. If possible, keep it in a pouch, small jewelry box, or similar.
If you enjoy wearing your moonstone engagement ring, keep in mind that it will need to be cleaned more frequently, so keep an eye on it.
Another important point is that rubbing metal against metal, harder gemstones, or other hard surfaces will scratch it. To avoid scratching, keep your precious metal jewelry stored separately and avoid rubbing beads or chains against pendants.
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