We all love our jewelry – it dresses us, defines us, and helps make us feel beautiful. However, like our teeth, jewelry requires care and maintenance to stay shiny and fresh. We recommend light and regular cleanings at home, along with annual professional cleanings to get the deep clean your jewelry deserves.
In addition to showcasing your jewelry at its best, a clean piece is also an investment in its lifespan. Your jewelry will stay bright and fresh for longer with these light and easy at-home cleaners that can be found in your kitchen cupboard or local drugstore.
These cleaners are safe for most hard metals (like sterling silver, gold, and platinum), as well as certain gemstones (like diamonds). They can be used for both semi-precious and precious gems, as well as costume pieces and plated jewelry. However, we don’t recommend cleaning pearls or soft gemstones at home as it can damage the stones or their settings. Instead, please bring these pieces to your jeweler for a professional polish and stone check.
To use, simply mix the jewelry cleaner with warm water and soak your piece for a few minutes before rinsing it with cool, new water and a damp cloth. Then let your jewelry air-dry completely.
For a more thorough clean, we suggest using an ultrasonic cleaner. This type of jewelry cleaner works by using high-frequency sound waves within a tank of liquid to create a phenomenon known as cavitation. Cavitation causes microscopic vacuum bubbles to rapidly form and then collapse, creating a powerful scrubbing action at the molecular level, which helps to eliminate dirt and debris from delicate surfaces such as the surface of your precious gemstones and fine metals.
Vinegar
Vinegar is a quick and easy jewelry cleaner that can help restore the shine of your pieces. You can buy a dedicated jewelry cleaner stick at many stores, but you can also easily use a small container of white vinegar from your kitchen pantry. For best results, choose a low-abrasive vinegar that doesn’t contain any extra whitening or tartar control agents. Alternatively, you can use a homemade mixture of equal parts vinegar and warm water.
Baking Soda
A quick internet search will show you that you can also use baking soda to clean your jewelry. However, we recommend avoiding this hack because it can scratch and dull the finish on some precious metals, such as sterling silver and gold.
Instead, we’d suggest trying this gentle, ammonia-free formula from GH Institute that is specially formulated to safely and effectively clean precious metals like gold and silver, as well as certain natural gemstones such as rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. The formula uses an advanced polymer system to repel soil and protect against tarnishing, which can cause scratches and dullness. This cleaner comes in wipes, a convenient spray bottle, and even pens for on-the-go cleaning. This makes it an ideal product to stock for all your customers’ at-home jewelry cleaning needs!
