16 Jewelry Cleaning Care Tips You Must Know 2023
We, as electroforming artists, are always seeking new possibilities to explore, and more fields to apply our expertise on, this quest for exploration has led us down many paths, but what better than the path of jewelry!
Jewelry is incredibly popular across the globe and using the beauty of electroforming we can bring down the costs and bring up the looks!
Sounds great, but how do we take proper care of our jewelry? In this article we’ll cover different jewelry cleaning and care tips, to keep your creations in pristine shape!
The answer to the question 16 Jewelry Cleaning Care Tips You Must Know 2021
How do you take proper care of jewelry?
Obviously, a lot goes into answering that question, but you can take some basic precautions to keep your jewelry in pristine shape.
Basic things you should always do to prevent scratching or dullness on your jewelry are keeping it dry in a zip lock bag, and storing it away from chemically treated surfaces such as wood, also be sure to separate gold and silver and clean your jewelry with special cleaners, but more on that later.
Obviously, there’s nothing worse than seeing your beautifully electroformed jewelry projects go to waste due to tarnishing, or scratching.
Therefore, it’s vital for us to know how to take care of and clean, our jewelry to prevent, and if needed, fix such issues! In this article, we’ll give you all the tips you need to know to become a jewelry master in no time! Without further ado, let’s jump right into the action!
What Do Professionals Use To Clean Jewelry?
As with any profession, it’s always best to learn from those who know the most, the professionals in the field!
The same goes in the field of jewelry! If we can figure out how the professionals do it, we can take huge steps in our own development, so how do professionals clean their jewelry, and is it possible for us hobbyists to do the same?
Real professional jewelers use special machines to clean there, specifically diamond, jewelry.
These machines are called ultrasonic cleaners and use high-frequency sound waves to remove dirt and clean the diamonds.
As you might expect these machines are expensive for the pro product and moderately priced for the hobbyist, and therefore it could be hard to access for the average hobbyist like you and me.
Luckily for us, cleaning other precious metals like silver, or gold, in a professional way is a lot easier! Just use some cleaning fluid and a brush, if you’re looking for the true professional finish you can polish the piece for the best results! Better safe than sorry, so let’s have a look at storing our jewelry!
How Do I Keep My Jewelry From Tarnishing?
Of course, it’s good to know how to clean and take proper care of our pieces of jewelry, but we’d rather prevent the need for cleaning all together!
Tarnishing is a jeweler’s worst enemy as it’s difficult to clean and it leaves a massive visual impact on the jewelry, but how can we prevent this faith from striking our electroformed pieces?
Separation is key in this process, to start, separate the different types of metal from one another, place your gold and silver jewelry in separate boxes and make sure they can’t make contact!
Secondly, keeping your jewelry dry is essential to keep it from tarnishing, store it sealed in a dry environment to prevent any nasty surprises!
Following these tricks should get you a long way, but is there anything else we can do?
Does Clear Nail Polish Keep Jewelry From Tarnishing?
Taking all the necessary precautions mentioned in the previous paragraph will get you a long way towards an untarnished jewelry box, but maybe you’re unable to meet all requirements, or perhaps you want to be extra safe with some of your most prized possessions, is there more we can do in this case?
A quick google search will bring up clear nail polish as a possible candidate, but is this is a myth or a magic trick? Let’s find out!
Applying coats of clear nail polish to your jewelry pieces can help prevent tarnishing!
It essentially ensures everything mentioned in the previous paragraph, and it even prevents your skin from turning green after extensive jewelry use!
That all sounds great, but you should consider if it’s worth coating over your incredibly precious jewelry as cleaning and polishing the jewelry will become more difficult after applying clear nail polish!
What Type Of Jewelry Doesn’t Tarnish?
As we’ve mentioned in previous paragraphs, tarnishing is a jeweler’s worst enemy!
We’ve looked at ways to clean it, and prevent it altogether, but wouldn’t it be great to work with metals that just don’t tarnish at all?
Do they exist, and is it possible to eliminate this devil from our lives altogether?
Every material has its pros and cons, but wouldn’t it be great to have tarnish-resistant jewelry?
As far as metals go, stainless steel or lesser-known metals like Tungsten Carbide or Palladium are the way to go!
Platinum is another precious material that won’t tarnish. You can also choose to go down the alternative route of ceramic jewelry to prevent the possibility of tarnishing all together!
If you want more information on What Type Of Jewelry Doesn’t Tarnish? Here is another great resource.
How Do I Make My Jewelry Shiny Again?
A large part of jewelry’s appeal lies in its shiny nature, the shinier the better seems to be the general consensus when it comes to modern jewelry.
As any jewelry owner will know, however, shininess quickly fades, but is there a way to bring it back in all its glory?
How to make your jewelry shine depends on the material that we’re working with, silver requires a different cleaning method to diamond for example.
Generally using slight abrasives and regular cleaning equipment such as dish soap, baking soda, and a toothbrush will get you a long way!
How Do You Fix Discolored Jewelry?
Another dramatic issue associated with jewelry is its tendency to discolor over time!
This changes the look of our piece dramatically, and more often than not for the worst! Is there a way to fix this annoying discolored jewelry and bring it back to how it was?
As you probably know this discoloration is caused by tarnish, and luckily for us, this can be removed by using a DIY cleaning mixture!
Add a tablespoon of salt and one baking soda to a bowl of hot water, place the jewelry in the solution and cover it with aluminum foil, now let it sit for a few minutes.
Use a cloth and watch as all the tarnish wipes right off!
Why Does My Jewelry Tarnish So Quickly?
Tarnish is the inevitable faith of any piece of jewelry, with age comes degradation, and degradation sadly comes in the horrifying form of tarnish!
However sometimes things don’t go according to plan, and pieces tarnish much faster than they usually would, but why, and how can we prevent this?
If your jewelry is tarnishing quickly, it’s likely because you didn’t follow the instructions on storing your jewelry that we mentioned previously.
Be sure to store your jewelry sealed and in a dry environment, separate the different metal types, and make sure that no pieces of jewelry contact one another whilst storing!
What Is The Best Homemade Jewelry Cleaner?
Of course, most of us aren’t professionals, and we don’t all have access to sophisticated tools and cleaning solutions to take care of our jewelry, but how do we do this at home?
Luckily, we can create our very own DIY jewelry cleaner, but how do we do this, and how does it work?
Making our own jewelry cleaner might be a lot simpler than you think, all you need is some Dawn dish detergent and warm water!
Mix a few drops of the dish detergent with the warm water, and soak the jewelry into the solution! Let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse off and use a toothbrush to clean off!
How Often Should You Clean A Diamond Ring?
We now know how to clean and take care of our jewelry, but how often should we do this? Can we clean our jewelry too much, and does it differ per material?
Let’s have a look and see how often you should clean your diamond jewelry!
If you want to take proper care of your diamond ring, it’s recommended to clean it around once a week.
Doing this prevents the build-up of dirt and oils on the ring! On top of that, you should have your ring professionally cleaned around twice a year by your local jeweler.
If you do both, your ring will never stop shining brighter than ever!
Can Rubbing Alcohol Clean Jewelry?
Rubbing Alcohol is a common household cleaning item, often used to clean everything in and around the house, but can you use it on jewelry?
Does it clean it, or perhaps damage it? Let’s have a look!
As with all cleaning agents, rubbing alcohol can be used, but in sensible doses.
A few drops of the substance can help remove dirt and oils from your jewelry, but using too much can cause a dull finish as it breaks down the shiny layer, so be sure to use it in moderation and you’ll be just fine!
The best way is to do a test on an inconspicuous area first.
Can You Clean Jewelry With Vinegar?
Vinegar is another common item often used to clean everything around us, its abrasive nature makes it a perfect cleaning agent for most jobs, but can it be used on jewelry, or does the abrasive nature cause issues?
Just like other cleaning agents, vinegar is slightly acidic which has the potential to damage your jewelry, but it’s also what makes it a cleaning agent!
Vinegar can easily be used as an accessible way to clean your jewelry, mix it with some water and soak it for some time, and enjoy the shine! Once again test first.
How Do You Clean Silver With Ketchup?
Cleaning silverware with ketchup is a story often seen wandering across the internet, it sounds a little ludicrous, but is it?
Let’s take a look at this common wisdom and see if it’s a myth or an incredible trick!
It might be a surprise, but this trick works! Simply submerge your jewelry in a bowl of ketchup and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes!
Due to ketchup’s abrasive nature, it acts as a great polishing agent, simply rinse off and enjoy your freshly cleaned silverware!
Can You Clean Jewelry With OxiClean?
Another well-known piece of cleaning solution, especially here in the United States is OxiClean, but once again we’ll ask the question, can you clean jewelry with it?
Let’s have a look!
Online opinions seem split on this matter, and while it is technically possible to clean jewelry in an OxiClean-based solution it is not recommended.
This is because OxiClean is known to corrode certain metals, and with the many other cleaning options out there it’s simply not worth the risk!
Can Coca-Cola Clean Silver?
Just like with the ketchup story circling the internet, another popular cleaning belief can be found in Coca-Cola, but can you use Coca-Cola to clean your silver jewelry, or is it just a weird myth wandering around the web? Let’s find out!
Once again, this weird story is completely true! You can use Coca-Cola to clean silver!
It’s recommended to use diet coke, however, as this won’t leave the sugar residue that regular Coca-Cola does. Just submerge the jewelry in a bath of Coca-Cola, let it sit, then rinse and observe the results!
Can I Use Windex To Clean My Diamond Ring?
This leads from one popular household cleaning agent to the other, once again a popular cleaning product in the US, Windex!
Used to clean glass and other tough to clean surfaces makes it seem like a perfect cleaning agent for our diamond jewelry, but is it?
The answer is once again rather simple, yes you can use Windex to clean your diamond ring!
Just clean it using a toothbrush and some Windex and the dirt build-up should come right off, leaving you with a nice and shiny ring to enjoy!
How Do You Clean Tarnished Jewelry With Toothpaste?
This leads us to today’s final topic, and that is the common piece of knowledge that tarnished jewelry can be restored using toothpaste, but can you, and how does it work?
Let’s dive right into it!
Just like most cleaning methods on this list, using toothpaste to clean tarnished jewelry is easy!
Just apply a bit of toothpaste to the tarnished piece and use a soft cloth, or perhaps your finger to rub it in well.
After that use warm water to rinse it off and watch the tarnish disappear like snow to the sun!
Final Thoughts for 16 Jewelry Cleaning Care Tips You Must Know 2023
All in all, taking proper care of jewelry is an essential skill for any electroforming artist to have.
There are many different ways to clean your jewelry, and multiple ways to properly store it, and as long as you follow the basic rules and clean regularly you have nothing to worry about!
We hope that this article has provided you with enough information to get to work on electroforming your own jewelry!
16 Jewelry Cleaning Care Tips You Must Know 2021
Thanks for reading and good luck cleaning and taking care of your jewelry!
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Let’s continue the conversation and find out the 14 Jewelry Care Tips Make Your Life Easier I know you will love it.
Sources In MLA Format:
About the author: Benjamin Khordipour Benjamin Khordipour is one of the researchers and gemologists at Estate Diamond Jewelry. He received his gemological degrees from both GIA and GUBELIN.Benjamin was born in New York and joined Estate Diamond J, et al. “(Easy & Simple) How To Clean Your Engagement Ring.” Estate Diamond Jewelry, 18 Jan. 2021, www.estatediamondjewelry.com/clean-engagement-ring/.
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TigerTiger is a fashion&jewelry lover. He is also a fashion jewelry manufacturer that help thousands of small business to grow and also do business with some big fashion jewelry brands. He is a truly metal expert and he will share some information you are, et al. “7 Awesome Jewelry Metals That Don’t Tarnish.” A Fashion Blog, 4 Jan. 2021, www.afashionblog.com/jewelry-metals-that-dont-tarnish/.
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Sustainability is also important to Michael and he always looks for ways to repurpose discarded materials, like used wine bottles and scrap metal, to reduce their impact on the environment.
Michael's articles on electroforming, crystals, gemstones, brazing, and welding are written to provide answers and guidance to others who are interested in learning about these crafts. He has a love for sharing his knowledge and helping others to create beautiful pieces of art.
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