Silver & Jewellery Care
Let’s face it: everybody’s jewellery needs a good clean occasionally. If you look at your own collection, you’ll probably notice your precious jewellery getting tarnished. So how do you go about cleaning your jewellery quickly, easily and safely?
All jewellery needs some care and attention to be kept at its sparkling best. If you’re not sure where to start, I’m here to help you to learn about how easily clean and care for your gold, sterling silver and gemstone jewellery.
Your jewellery should be stored in a dry place away from humidity, moisture, perfumes and extreme temperatures. Avoid wearing rings when cleaning, gardening or performing sports activities.
Store your jewellery in its own box or pouch to prevent scratching, chipping and entanglement. Ideally, store your jewellery in a soft lined box or pouch. Try to keep pieces apart, so that they don’t rub together or tangle up.
Exposed to the atmosphere, all silver is prone to oxidization and consequent tarnishing. Gentle rubbing with a silver cleaning cloth will restore the original brilliance of the surface.
If you wear your gold-plated silver jewellery for significant periods of time, the plating will eventually wear down. To restore its appearance, you can have it re-plated.
All stone jewellery requires extra care and consideration during wearing to protect the setting as well as to safeguard the gemstone it holds.
Never clean your gold plated & oxidized jewellery with bleach. Always protect your jewellery from sharp blows, scratching, chemicals, sunlight and heat/cold. Never go swimming in your jewellery, chlorine in swimming pools can cause damage.
Also take care when using a polishing cloth, brush or anything else which is rubbed against the metal, particularly if your jewellery has a more delicate finish (such as gilding, vermeil, plating or any patina or coloring).
Oxidized & gold-plated jewellery can be cleaned with warm soapy water and very soft toothbrush. Then rinse thoroughly & dry well.
Avoid your jewellery meeting perfume or perfumed lotions. The perfume may react with the plating and cause it to wear off.
Pearls require a little extra love and attention. The way to best care of them is to keep them away from chemicals such as perfumes and household cleaning products. To keep them shiny simply wipe them with a soft cloth. Treat your jewellery with care and it will be around for you to enjoy and sparkle for a long time!
Silver & Jewellery Care FAQs
What is sterling silver?
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver that contains 92.5% pure silver and approximately 7.5% copper, nickel or zinc.
My silver jewellery is tarnishing. What can I do about that?
Tarnish occurs naturally when certain metals are exposed to air and moisture. You can polish your sterling silver jewellery with a polishing cloth, and it will return to its original luster and shine.
Do not polish oxidized surfaces (darker metal parts), it will remove the patina. Rather clean the jewellery gently in warm soapy water.
Can I polish my jewellery by dipping it into a chemical polishing dip?
I would not recommend this as I cannot by responsible for any damaged caused by chemical polishes. Your best bet is to hand polish with a polishing cloth. It might take a little effort but is worth it in the long run. I’m happy to help with polishing in-house for a nominal fee. Just shoot me an email and we’ll get it all sparkly and new again.
What is oxidized or patinaed metal?
Oxidation is a chemical process where your metal jewellery is tarnished or discolored, leaving a desired patina or finish. For example, oxidized sterling silver goes from shiny silver to shiny grey or black.
What can I do to prevent tarnishing?
Since tarnishing is a natural process, it will happen eventually. However, you can slow the process down by keeping your jewellery away from humidity, chemicals, hair spray, and perfume, so put on your jewellery after your perfume. Try to keep your jewellery out of the bathroom, shower, kitchen and hot tub. It also helps to store your jewellery in plastic bags with non-tarnish jewellery paper.
Chlorinated water can damage and ruin your jewellery, so I would recommend removing all jewellery before going near any chemically treated water.
More Questions? Please feel free to contact me here.