Jewelry Cleaner
Whenever your customers have their favorite pieces of jewelry cleaned at your store, you see them walk away with brighter, more sparkling gems. What magic are your jewelers performing to make the sparkle happen?
It’s a combination of cleaning and polishing, which removes tarnish, smudges and fingerprints. Your jewelers use liquid cleaners, sticks, wipes and an ultrasonic cleaner to get the job done.
These professional-grade cleaning products aren’t readily available for at-home purchase. However, consumers can create their own DIY jewelry cleaner recipes using items they probably already have in their homes. This will help them keep their favorite jewelry looking like new between professional cleanings and help them save money on expensive replacements.
The best DIY jewelry cleaner recipe depends on what kind of jewelry you’re trying to clean, explains Good Housekeeping. Whether it’s silver or gold, or mixed metals with precious gems, lower-end pieces like brass and faux gold or semi-precious stones, or even copper or stainless steel, you can get your jewelry looking great again with a few simple ingredients that are often found around the house.
To begin, identify each piece of jewelry you’re cleaning. This will be easier if you have the item’s box or receipt and know its materials, but if not, check for jewelry stamps, ask your jeweler to help, or look up the item online for information about its composition. You’ll also want to be sure the items you’re cleaning won’t oxidize or discolor.
For most pieces of jewelry, you’ll need a liquid jewelry cleaner that doesn’t contain ammonia or bleach. Nicole Compton Jewelry Cleaner is safe for all metals and most gemstones including soft, porous ones such as opals and pearls. However, you should avoid soaking costume jewelry with glued-on stones unless the glue is fully intact, as soaked jewelry can loosen the stone or detach it from its setting.
Other jewelers may use an ultrasonic cleaner, which is a large tank of water with a special solution that uses high-frequency sound waves to agitate the solution. This creates a phenomenon called cavitation, which generates and collapses microscopic bubbles that scrub the surface of the jewelry.
A few jewelers also offer steam cleaning, which works similarly but with hot instead of cold water. Both types of cleaning will leave the jewelry shiny and lustrous, but steam can be rough on some gemstones like amber and Ethiopian opal, so it’s best used as an alternative for softer gems or costume jewelry.
Lastly, your jeweler may polish the jewelry with a buffing wheel and/or rinse it in steam. Then, a lint-free cloth or paper towel will be used to dry the jewelry. This will prevent moisture from damaging the jewelry and cause etching or crazing. If you’re a jeweler, you should consider offering this service to your customers as it can help them maintain their jewelry for a lifetime.
