10 Tips to Clean Your Jewelry Quickly

Let’s be practical. Every piece of jewelry needs proper care and cleaning from time to time. If you look at your collection, you will probably get to know how badly your precious jewelry is getting smeared or just plain filthy – and maybe also smashed and abraded. Thinking, what’s next? Quickly take a glimpse of these 10 amazing jewelry cleaning tips and bring back their real sparkle.

We all know jewelry needs some special care and attention to be kept at its best shine. So, let’s get started with the tips and tricks to clean your sterling silver jewelry…

​

1.  Scrutinize your jewelry

It can be easy to know that your jewelry needs cleaning because you often wear it all the time or at some point in time. So, you will notice the changes in its shiny look. You might be alarmed when you came to know just how dull your favorite jewelry gets. The good news is that cleaning a jewelry piece is the easiest thing. Check out the next step…

​

2. Wash it thoroughly

The simple cleaning step to consider always, as you would get to see instant benefit from it. In fact, this is all you need to do for many jewelry pieces, be it silver, gold, or fashion.

To wash a piece of jewelry, dip it into warm water and add a gentle colorless, and fragrance-free liquid soap. You can use Castile soap or soap for woolens or even a gentle handwash with no moisture, antiseptic or harsh chemicals. Use a cloth or soft brush to help get the dirt out of its crevices. Do not leave soft gems such as opals or pearls soaking in water for too long. Once it’s clean, rinse it and dry it quickly, as it may affect its real shine.

​

3. Give it an ultrasonic cleaner

If you notice that the intricate piece of jewelry isn’t cleaned properly, then consider a cheap ultrasonic cleaner and follow its instructions properly. Only then should you follow this step. The ultrasonic cleaners will do a great job of dislodging dirt and debris even from otherwise unable-to-reach places. Please note that this won’t remove tarnish, but will clean the complex pieces, having a lot of crevices where dirt usually accumulates.

​

4. BUT: Avoid excess use of Ultrasonic!

If a piece of beautiful silver jewelry is with blackened or patinated areas as part of the design or features soft gemstones like turquoise, pearls, opals, lapis, and lazuli, then keep ultrasonic cleaning at bay. Through this process, your jewelry might get damaged, so be careful!

​

5. Remove Tarnish with a polishing cloth

Over time, not only does sterling silver jewelry tarnish, but it also happens with other precious metals including lower carats of gold. This step is particularly to clean off precious metals properly. If your metal jewelry is tarnished, use a cleaning cloth to remove it as much as possible. Once you are done, give it a rinse and carefully keep it dry.

​

6. Use Silver Dip

Another option to remove tarnish from sterling silver is to use silver dip. It is specifically good for silver chains which can be difficult to clean with a polishing cloth. You will get a silver dip at a nearby local supermarket, larger pharmacy, or hardware shop. Otherwise, visit the local jewelry shop near you. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully and always rinse well and dry when you are done with the cleaning process.

​

7.  Avoid: Extra usage of Silver Dip

Just as with ultrasonic cleaner. If your silver jewelry has blackened areas as part of its design or has soft gemstones like lazuli, turquoise, lapis, or pearls, avoid step 6. As it may cause damage to its finishes and gemstones.

​

8. Don’t do harsh cleaning

Never use old jewelry cleaning methods: involving toothpaste or baking soda paste rubbed onto it. These will remove some amount of metal every time you do it and over time it will start damaging your precious jewelry piece. Particularly jewelry having gold vermeil, plated, or gold filled should never be cleaned with such methods. Also, take care when using a polishing cloth, brush, or anything else to rub against the metal, particularly if your jewelry is gold plating, blackening, or a patina.

​

9. Clean Silk Thread Necklaces

If your neckpiece has a silk thread, it can also be washed in warm soapy water followed by a gentle rinse. Simply lay the piece flat or hang it up to dry the silk thread or use an iron on the silk setting to straighten it out.

​

10.  Store Jewelry Carefully

In the last stage, your pearl jewelry or silver jewelry is nicely cleaned. Give a thought about how best to store it to avoid cleaning it again in just a few months. Make sure you don’t store the jewelry in a humid place – especially the bathroom – as it will get tarnished quickly. If you live in a humid location, then do extra care and be more frequent with the cleaning process.

Ideally, precious metal jewelry should be stored away from the free-flowing air. So, it will slow down the tarnish process, plus it will help keep the dirt at bay. Store it in a pouch or small jewelry box or a similar one if you can.

Final words –

With these jewelry cleaning tips, let your silver jewelry retain its actual shine and sparkle for many more years. Make sure your jewelry should be checked every six months and cleaned often. You can look for a jeweler with professionals like “S a a r ” and get suggestions from the experts themselves.