Basic Jewelry Care
Caring for gold and jewelry is important in maintaining their longevity and guaranteeing their use in the future. Just because we pay attention to them, get them the perfect jewelry box, or polish them doesn’t mean we’re materialistic (not always). This can save materials for the future, which is perhaps one of the basic elements in minimalism. Therefore, it is very important to know how to do this and in what time frames. Taking care of jewelry does not end only with their storage and keeping them clean. It’s more about the behavior we do while using them.
In this article, we tried to briefly discuss the general maintenance of jewelry. If you’re a meticulous person, you’ll probably enjoy the process you’ll encounter:
Always:
Use lotion, cosmetics, hairspray, and perfume before your jewelry (which means to wear jewelry after using them all).
When undressing, wipe each piece with a clean soft cloth to remove oils, and perspiration.
Store in a fabric-lined box, separately or individually-wrapped in tissue to prevent scratches.
Never:
Never wear jewelry when doing physical works with your hands such as housekeeping, gardening or exercise (you definitely don’t want to lose them).
Detergents destroy these metals (and even stones). Make sure these materials do not come into contact with your jewelry in the slightest (this means they should not be washed with any detergents).
Chlorine in water is very harmful for jewelry. Make sure it doesn’t come in contact with it (meaning you shouldn’t be wearing jewelry when entering the pool water – put it in your bag or locker before entering).
Here, we are only giving you some warns for some of the most common improper practices that have been used to clean jewelry – that have turned it the “DON’T YOU EVER DO THIS).
To care for your jewelry, for keep it clean and ready to wear, clean the excess make-up and skin oils after each time using them. Take a nub free, 100% cotton cloth, and wipe the piece clean softly – without any much of pressure with your nails – using only the soft pads of your fingers. Store in jeweler’s tissue or a soft bag.
To prevent silver from tarnishing, wrap it in jewelry paper and place it in a plastic zip-lock bag (make sure to squeeze out all the air before sealing).
Silver is a very soft and delicate metal that can be scratched during cleaning (especially the tarnished parts) simply with a little pressure of the nail or too much pressure of the cloth. We have listed below some tips for cleaning tarnished silver:
To remove fingerprints, light grease or dirt that does not require strong detergents, add a small amount of mild liquid soap to half a cup of warm water, soak for 2-3 minutes, and rinse thoroughly with clean water. Don’t forget to dry completely before storing in an airtight plastic bag.
For jewelry that has soft stones like amber, lapis lazuli, or turquoise, be very careful if you use any soaking method to clean them. Prolonged soaking in any solution may damage the polish on the stone. Never use chlorine bleach to clean jewelry.
To remove excess tarnish, polish with a 100% cotton cloth and a good non-abrasive metal cleaner. Be sure to remove any remaining cleanser from the gemstones and rinse thoroughly with clean water. (Jewelry is not a CD. Never use toothpaste to clean it!)
To maintain the original condition of your silver jewelry, polish your pieces regularly using anon-abrasive cleaning cloth.
Always keep in mind to not dry silverware off with paper serviettes
or apkins, always use a soft cloth( This can bring scrapes on the silver face).
Store your silver jewelry in a cool, dry place while you aren’t wearing them. Zip- cinch bag and individual cloth sacks are ideal for this, and will help preclude both cleansing, and scratching by other pieces.
Never submerge your silver jewelry in chlorine- containing liquids( chlorine itself, swab water, and even tanning lotions). Remember, some housekeeping cleansers contain chlorine bleach. These cleansers can bring discoloration and loosening of gems.
Avoid abrasive cleansers, detergents and marketable jewelry cleansers “ dips ” especially if the pieces have an oxidized finish. Using harsh polishing cleansers will alter the antique look of your jewelry.
Never use an ultrasonic cleanser, ammonia or any chemical result to clean opaque gems, similar as turquoise, malachite, onyx, lapis lazuli, and opals. They’re a porous stone, and may absorb chemicals, which make up inside the stone, and beget abrasion. Simply wipe them gently with a damp cloth until clean.
even so, don’t immerse in water, as this can loosen some settings, If your jewelry contains gems or pearls. Never use dips or abrasives cleansers on jewels.