Shiny!
In my quest to try and write “slightly” more regular blogs, today’s offering is all about keeping your jewellery clean and (if you want it to be) sparkling.
Now there’s all sort’s of chemical cleaning products out there, but really, good old hot soapy water and an old soft toothbrush is all you need for most types of jewellery. If you want it give it more professional finish then you could invest in a specific jewellery cleaning cloth (I like the Towntalk ones but there are other brands) to give it a final buff up after its wash.
You do need to be careful if your jewellery contains porous gemstones such as opals or pearls, of if it’s very old and delicate, so if that’s the case, it’s best to check with your friendly neighbourhood ethical goldsmith (that’ll be me then!) first.
If your jewellery has a mat/satin finish, and you’re confident enough to try reapplying it yourself, you can do this with a small piece of fine wire wool. Only press lightly though, otherwise you’ll end up making it shiny!
There’s also things you can do to stop your jewellery getting grubby or tarnished in the first place, so actually, this blog is just as much about prevention (which I think is always better) as it is cure!
Silver always tarnishes, even just in the air eventually, but there are still things you can do to help slow the process, and this combined with a freshen up with the soapy water method, could be all you ever need. 9ct white gold has lots of silver in the alloy, so can also suffer with the same problems. The other colours of gold suffer much less. Platinum and palladium, won’t usually tarnish, but ALL the metals can get very dirty if they’re not cleaned from time to time.
So, my main advice is to take your jewellery off before you shower, swim or apply any kind of beauty products. This is usually the number one reason why silver especially will tarnish. Even eco-friendly products contain stuff that affect your jewellery, and creams especially are great at getting stuck behind gemstones and take away their sparkle.
Taking your jewellery off before you do any kind of sports or before you go to bed can also help. For both of these, it’s likely that your body temperature will be higher, and so you’re way more likely to sweat. Your sweat then takes a few skin cells along for the ride, and they all get stuck behind rings and in between chains. I should really listen to my own advice on this one, but hey ho.
Finally, if you’re struggling with good old soap and water, and your jewellery just isn’t coming up clean, please don’t despair and just get in touch, as 99.9% of the time, even if its been exposed to a chemical that has turned it completely black, there is always a way to get your jewellery sparkling again.
