Do you have some gold jewelry that desperately needs cleaning? There are ways your jewelry can get damaged if you haven’t cleaned it properly. Taking the appropriate steps to make sure your cleaning will keep your jewelry in good shape is important.
Let’s take a look gold cleaning and the things you’ll want to avoid.
Gold Jewelry Properties
If you have a piece of jewelry or gold that is pure, it will be 24 karats. If your gold isn’t pure, it just means that it is mixed with other alloys. These alloys increase the durability, lifespan, and hardness of the product.
Pure gold is beautiful, but it is a very soft metal. If you’re an active person or frequently take your jewelry off, it can scratch easily.
Gold Cleaning Tactics
Knowing how to care for your gold jewelry, pure or not, will help to increase its longevity. Here is some expert advice on gold cleaning.
Visit Your Jeweler
If you don’t have the resources at home or you want to make sure you don’t jeopardize the quality of your jewelry, taking it to a jeweler is your best bet.
They will be able to tell the specific alloys your jewelry is composed of, look for any existing damage, and clean it to make it sparkly! Having a jeweler clean your item will most likely be more effective than doing it at home.
If you don’t have access to a jeweler, don’t know where the item came from, and or want to try to clean it yourself, you can do that too! Gold is a metal that doesn’t tarnish but it can lose its shine over time. It’s important to remember to avoid harsh cleaners in case your gold has stones set in it.
Use Dish Soap
One of the things to try when gold cleaning is using dish soap. Dish soap has many great uses and among them is a great jewelry cleaner!
You can use any brand dish soap, it doesn’t have to be a special soap. Dish soap begins to bubble up when mixed with water, and these bubbles help to dislodge all of the accumulation of dirt.
You start by diluting the dish soap with water. Use 1 tablespoon of dish soap to 3 tablespoons of warm water mixed in a bowl till it’s bubbly. Once it is sudsy, you can soak your gold jewelry in the solution for 15 minutes or more.
If you’re having trouble getting the dirt out of some of the cracks, you can take an old toothbrush or vegetable scrubber and run it along the lines. When you rinse it off, let it dry completely before wearing to avoid skin irritation.
Use A Cleanser
Another tip on how to clean gold is to use a cleanser. You can make this cleanser in your own kitchen. You’ll need some aluminum foil, salt, baking soda, dish soap, and water.
This cleanser will work a little better than just plain dish soap if you’ve got dirt that has accumulated or caked on. You’ll want to find a bowl and line it with aluminum foil.
Once your bowl has aluminum foil on it, go ahead and add the rest of the ingredients. You’ll need to get a tablespoon of salt, dish soap, and baking soda and mix it together. Once it’s mixed, you’ll add 3 to 4 tablespoons of hot water to help clean the metal and loosen accumulated junk.
The mixture should start to fizz. The combination of all of the ingredients actually creates a chemical exchange that cleans the metal.
Put your jewelry in the fizzy mixture for 10 minutes or more. You can use an old toothbrush or microfiber towel to gently get in the grooves and prongs of your jewelry. Then, rinse it with warm water and set it on a paper towel to dry.
Use Toothpaste
Toothpaste is another great tool when gold cleaning jewelry or objects. If you have something that has grime accumulated on it like paint or oil, toothpaste is a great option in cleaning it off. It is abrasive but not enough to ruin or scratch your gold.
You’ll want to dilute the toothpaste a little by mixing a bit in a bowl with water. It should be the consistency of a paste and should not be teeth-whitening paste. If you do have a teeth-whitening toothpaste, you’ll want to wait until you are able to purchase a milder paste.
Once you have the solution ready, you’ll soak an old toothbrush in it and scrub the blemishes off. Then you can rinse it with warm water to get rid of the paste residue and let dry.
Use Baking Soda
The last method that you can do at home would be baking soda. Baking soda is used for a lot of different types of cleaning as it helps to remove dirt effectively.
It is partially alkaline, which creates carbon dioxide when mixed with metal. The bubbles that are created from this process loosen and demolish dirt and other residues.
The first thing you’ll do is put together a mixture of a tablespoon of baking soda and two tablespoons of water to make a thick paste.
You’ll then scrub the jewelry with the paste, rinse, and let dry.
The Methods
All of the above are proven methods when it comes to gold cleaning. If you have access to a jeweler, that will be your number one go-to. If you don’t, or it isn’t convenient for you, doing it at home works as well.
Whether it be baking soda, cleanser, dish soap, or toothpaste, each clean your gold effectively.
If you have more dirt and residue accumulation, sticking with the toothpaste or the baking soda will work better.
Interested in other tips when it comes to your fashion? Read this blog on the top 5 fashion trends for 2018.
