Follow these simple methods to bring back the shine of your gold and silver jewellery
Most everyone has a gold or silver decorative item they love. It can be your favourite ring or necklace, these items are much more valuable than their monetary worth. Usually, they have a special meaning for their owner, they can be connected to a memory, an occasion or a person. With time, however, your gold and silver jewellery will start showing signs of wear, it will darken and lose its shine. Dirt and dust will collect on your jewellery just by you wearing it. Don't worry there are a few very easy ways to clean your gold and silver (and even diamond incrusted) jewellery at home if you simply know the right way.
Your jewellery box is usually stored far away from the kitchen, however, the best cleaning solutions you can use to easily, quickly and effectively clean both gold and silver at home lie precisely there. You probably would not reach to regular household items as your first choice for cleaning your precious gold and silver decorations, but, if you follow our simple cleaning tips you can use commonly available supplies to bring your gold and silver jewellery back to life.
In this article, we will show you how to easily and quickly clean gold and silver jewellery at home using cleaning tools you can find in your kitchen cupboards right now!
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Your jewellery has a special meaning
Your golden and silver jewellery is usually a gift from that special someone for that special occasion. This is why your jewellery is worth much more than money. It represents a special connection and a special moment you have had in the past. A memory. This is why it is very important that you properly clean your jewellery, the cleaner you keep it the longer it will last, the longer you will preserve that special memory.
Gold and silver are also an investment
Gold and silver are precious metals and many people consider them to be an investment. You must take care of every investment, this is why you should extensively clean gold and silver. Oddly enough cleaning your jewellery is something that is usually delayed, left for a time in the future until we reach a point where we have to clean our golden and silver decorations.
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Gold is resilient but...
Gold is a resilient and durable metal but it can be damaged. You shouldn't treat gold and silver like something that cannot be scratched or bent. Even the slightest bit of pressure, tightening or firmer contact can change the shape and appearance of even the most expensive pieces of golden or silver jewellery. Repairing jewellery and cleaning jewellery are two entirely different processes. While it is completely possible for you to quite easily clean your precious decorations at home repairing damage is best left to professional jewellers. If you have even minor damage on your decorative items take them to a specialist, cleaning and regular maintenance will just mean that you will be able to enjoy them longer.
How to clean gold and silver at home (and decorative stones too)
How to clean gold
You probably take off your wedding ring the least, or that is usually the idea behind it, that you will keep it on all the time. This is why your wedding ring out of all the decorative items you own, will get dirty the quickest. Your wedding ring will constantly be exposed to cleaning detergents, sweat, sebum, just the environment itself and can easily get scratched and covered in dust. You can restore the once shiny nature of your wedding ring by using one of the following cleaning methods.
Cleaning gold with salt
Dissolve about 5 tablespoons of salt in a single cup of water. Simply place your golden decoration in the saline solution and leave it for half a day or overnight. Rinse using clean water and pat dry using a dry, lint-free cleaning cloth.
Cleaning gold with sugar
Dissolve 3 tablespoons of sugar in a cup of water. It is better to use warm or hot water just to make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved. Let the water cool and put your wedding ring inside the solution. Leave your ring, necklace or bracelet overnight and dry using a clean, lint-free cloth. The sugar will create an acidic environment which will remove any staining or dirt.
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Cleaning gold with vinegar
This is probably the easiest way to clean gold, simply use vinegar to clean your golden decorations using a clean cloth, rinse with clean water and dry. This entire process should take you about 5 minutes.
Cleaning gold with dishwashing liquid
Yes, dishwashing liquid has many cleaning uses it is not just limited to dishes. You can use it to easily clean your gold jewellery as well. Put 1 teaspoon of the dish soap in a small saucepan with about a litre of water. Place your jewellery in the saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes. Rinse well with clean water and dry. Another somewhat unusual alternative for this method involves the same steps, however, replacing the vinegar with lemon juice, onion juice (just grate an onion and squeeze the juice out through cheesecloth) or egg white dissolved in equal parts with beer.
How to clean silver
High-quality silver should be professionally cleaned. You are better off leaving the cleaning process to professional jewellers for high-quality and expensive silver items, silver of lesser, more commonly used standard can be easily cleaned at home.
Cleaning silver with dishwashing liquid
This way to clean silver is identical to the process used to clean gold. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid in a litre of water and boil your silver jewellery for 15 minutes. Subsequently use a soft brush to remove visible soiling and dirt. This is probably the easiest and most effective way to clean silver at home.
Cleaning silver with lemon juice and ammonia
Silver can easily discolour, you can bring back its previous shine by submerging your silver jewellery in lemon juice and ammonia. For this cleaning method dissolve one teaspoon of lemon juice and ammonia in a cup of water. Place your silver jewellery in the solution for only a minute. After one minute remove the silver jewellery and wipe with a clean cloth.
If you can't find ammonia or don't want to risk it you can use grated potato for this method as well. Grate a small potato and place it in the water. Proceed with the cleaning process in the same way. The effect will be the same as if you were to use ammonia and lemon juice.
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Be gentle with all of these cleaning steps. Do not use abrasive cleaning equipment, stick to a soft brush and cloth. It is very easy to scratch or to damage your delicate jewellery.
Cleaning silver with toothpaste
Yes, this does work, you can clean silver using toothpaste. Make sure your silver jewellery is wet, apply a small amount of fluoride toothpaste to the jewellery. Keep a small bowl full of water next to you while you work, keeping the jewellery damp clean it with your hand sand the toothpaste. Keep cleaning until the toothpaste visibly darkens. Rinse your jewellery in cold running water until you remove the toothpaste. At this point, your silver jewellery should be visibly cleaner.
How to clean gemstones and jewels
If your jewellery has a stone on it that does not mean you can't clean it at home. To safely and easily clean jewellery with gems on it all you need to know is what kind of cleaning tools you can use. What cleaning tools you use depends on the type of stone is on your ring or bracelet and what its hardness is. For gems and stones hardness measures the ability to resist scratching. Diamonds are the hardest material in the world, they are also incredibly brittle.
How to clean soft gems
Soft gems, meaning ones that are not that scratch-resistant, such as opal, malachite or moonstones are very easily prone to scratches. To clean such gems you have to submerge them in a cold solution of 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid to a cup of water. After leaving them in the cleaning solution, use a clean cloth to wipe them.
Оther soft stones such as amber corals or pearls are not susceptible to abrupt environmental changes. These stones cannot be cleaned in an aggressive environment. For such stones use an alcohol cleaning solution comprised of equal parts water and vodka.
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How to clean hard gems
You can easily clean hard gems such as zirconium, diamonds, sapphires, rubies or emeralds in the dishwasher or using ammonia.
Cleaning the gemstones of your gold or silver jewellery is a complicated process. Avoid storing the gems in direct sunlight for too long and constantly exposing them to changes in the atmosphere.
When it comes to cleaning gold, silver and diamonds your kitchen is your laboratory. Keep in mind very expensive, high-quality pieces should always be professionally cleaned.
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