It’s important to clean jewelry after each wearing. Doing so keeps the jewelry looking great and ready to throw back on with a moment’s notice. Like keeping clothes mended and ironed, in the mad rush to get ready for work, knowing that accessories are clean and ready to wear ensures the wearer the quickest time getting ready and out the door.
Take care to keep all cosmetic and scent products from coming in contact with jewelry. Use hairspray or any other type of spray beauty product before the jewelry is worn. Only put jewelry on with freshly washed hands.
Cleaning Gemstone and Precious Metal Jewelry With Soap and Water
Caution should always be taken when cleaning jewelry. For most jewelry, the safest way to clean it is as simple as breaking out some liquid unscented soap. In a plastic bowl, mix warm water with a scant amount of liquid soap. Dunk and swish the jewelry in the water. Massage the jewelry gently with fingers. Alternatively, the jewelry can be carefully scrubbed with a toothbrush.
Rinse and dry thoroughly before storing. For jewelry that is not terribly dirty, rinsing the jewelry in clean water with gentle towel drying works well too. Once the jewelry-wearer gets in the habit, this takes only a second. After washing, leave the jewelry out overnight on a towel in a safe place to dry. While selecting jewelry for the next day’s wear, put the previously worn jewelry back in storage.
Pearls, Emeralds and Opals
Never wash pearls, emeralds or opals in water. This adage applies for any gemstone that has been oiled – a treatment that must be disclosed when the jewelry is purchased. Wipe these types of jewelry off with a clean cloth.
Periodically take oiled gemstone and pearl jewelry to a professional to clean. Additionally, pearls are strung on knotted silk. Eventually the silk will degrade and the pearls will need to be re-strung on fresh, clean silk.
Costume Jewelry
Never use water to clean costume jewelry. Carefully brushing the jewelry with a soft clean make-up brush should keep the jewelry looking wonderful under normal circumstances. If the jewelry gets dirty it can be carefully cleaned with an extremely small amount of rubbing alcohol on a white cotton cloth or cotton swab. The cleaning cloth should be just barely damp. It’s important to keep the rubbing alcohol from seeping between settings.
Polishing Cloth
These handy cloths clean many different types of jewelry. Wear rubber or latex gloves and rub the jewelry with the cloth until it is clean. The cloth turn a black color (which will transfer to hands if gloves aren't worn) and can be used over and over until the entire cloth is discolored. They are not washable, so toss it and break out another one to for the next piece of jewelry.
Two Great Polishing and Cleaning Cloths
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