I have had many people ask me how to clean their jewellery, and also been told some very weird and wonderful ways to do it; from Ketchup to Gin!
The trouble is people really want their jewellery to look like new, not just clean, and there’s only one way to do that, and that’s to get it repolished and maintained by a jeweller. This means the knocks and dents will be polished out and the stones will shine etc.
I can do this for you, but if you just want to make it look the best it can at home here’s a few how tips::
• Firstly put your jewellery on last. You are supposed to avoid perfumes and creams etc when wearing jewellery, but we all know we like to smell and feel nice too! So if you are going to wear perfume put it on before the jewellery and let it soak into the skin, that way you won’t spray it on top.
• Never wear jewellery swimming! The chlorine and chemicals in the pool water turns silver black and will damage pearls and porous stones.
• Don’t keep silver jewellery in a leather-lined box as the leather releases oils and tarnishes it. Instead keep items in plastic re-sealable bags and no air can get in.
• Take jewellery off when at the gym or gardening, as weights and heavy equipment with dent rings and bracelets.
• Rub down jewellery with a soft cloth like a e-cloth after wear to get rid of any residues like perfume, creams and dare I say it sweat (even though us girlies only glow!!)
• Wear your jewellery! It polishes it self again your clothes, and it looks far better on than in the bottom of the jewellery box.
To clean jewellery, really I think the best thing you can do is soak it in some warm water with a little washing up liquid or detergent, then with a very soft toothbrush clean it over, rinse off and dry on some kitchen towel then buff over with a soft cloth.
There are cleaners available such a dips and creams, I personally like the dip for silver jewellery, but it can’t contain stones as it can damage them and be careful not to knot chains up. But this is a bit more harmful than just fairy liquid.
I have also heard of some weird and wonderful ways!
Rubbing ketchup all over the jewellery and then cleaning it off! I guess it’s the acids in the ketchup that eat away the dirt, but then how do you get the ketchup out of little holes, and it will be all sticky! Stick to it on chips I think
Gin and Vodka. This is due to the alcohol content, but to be honest I think it just removes a smear on diamond and wouldn’t brighten silver. Soda water and beer have also been suggested. I think this is due to the bubbles in them, which might help dislodge any grime behind stones. Cocktails are a much better use of alcohol and you wont smell like a brewery!
You could also try toothpaste, denture tablets and Alka-Seltzer.
But again, I would use the alcohol for drinking and the Alka-Seltzer for the day after!
Use fairy liquid as this breaks down grease, and build up from everyday wear, and a soft toothbrush will clean out any dirt behind stones. This is also safe for pearls and other soft stones. But for a good clean just ask a jeweler to do it for you. They can check stones and make sure the jewellery is in good condition and can repair anything if not.
