Like your teeth, your jewelry requires periodic cleaning to maintain its brilliance and health. While you can do some light maintenance at home (brushing and flossing), you should also take your pieces to the professionals from time to time to get a deep clean that’s impossible to achieve at home.
A professional cleaner uses an ultrasonic tank and a specialized solution designed to work with the cleaning process. The specialized solution has surfactants, which help remove dirt and grime without damaging delicate metals or stones. The ultrasonic tank itself creates a phenomenon called cavitation, which involves high-frequency sound waves that cause microscopic vacuum bubbles to form and then rapidly collapse. When the bubbles collide with your jewelry, they scrub away dirt and grime at the microscopic level. This is the same kind of cleaning action that your dentist uses to thoroughly clean your teeth.
There are a variety of commercial jewelry cleaners that you can purchase from your local jeweler, but you can also make one at home using ingredients found in your kitchen. A combination of mild acids, such as vinegar or baking soda, and a bit of ammonia provides an effective solution for surface tarnish removal and deeper grime breakdown. This is the same type of cleaner that your jeweler uses to clean his or her tools, and it’s perfectly safe for use on jewelry if you follow a few safety precautions.
If you prefer an eco-friendly option, there are also natural cleaners for jewelry on the market. One example is a distilled water-based cleaner from Weiman, which contains essential oils that impart both a bright, sparkling shine and a soothing, invigorating fragrance to your jewelry. The water-based cleaner is also biodegradable and phosphate free, which helps protect your jewelry’s precious metals from corrosion.
For those who want a fast and convenient way to clean their jewelry, there are also disposable jewelry cleaner wipes available. These handy items from Groshong are compact enough to keep in your bag or purse and are recommended by many customers as a convenient alternative to commercial jewelry cleaners.
Another easy-to-use option is a ring-cleaning stick from Weiman, which provides a mess-free way to quickly address build-up from hand soap, lotion and other common cling-ons. This product is convenient, affordable and easy to store in your bag or at work for quick touch-ups between professional cleaning sessions.
