How to Clean Jewelry [With Infographic] | CRATEX

Why pay money for harsh chemical cleansers, when you can clean your jewelry with natural cleaning remedies? Natural cleaners are safe and cost-effective, because you probably have most of the stuff that you'll need lying around the house anyway. Oh, and maybe it's just us, but it makes a looot of fun watching our everyday foods starring in neat science experiments.

This chapter will show you how to clean every type of jewelry: silver, gold, copper, brass, pearls and even costume jewelry.

How to Clean Silver Jewelry

Ever wondered why your silver jewelry tarnishes over time? It actually doesn't have much to do with the silver as it has to do with other metals. Namely, although highly resistant to tarnish, pure silver is too soft to be used in everyday jewelry, so it is combined with other materials to be made stronger and durable. Jewelry silver is an alloy of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other materials, typically copper, and copper is the real silver tarnish culprit. Since copper reacts to the moisture and sulfur in the air, it will cause that gloomy and ultimately black layer on your jewelry over time.

If you've ever tried it, you must know that cleaning silver is no walk in the park. Using a silver polishing cloth is time consuming and you need to put some serious muscle into it. Luckily, there are some pretty neat and quick ways to reverse this chemical reaction, and they involve items that you probably already have at home. After some research and trying out a few methods ourselves, we have our favorite silver cleaning method.

Mind Blowing Method: Baking Soda, Water and Aluminum Foil

If this is not mind-blowing, then not sure what is! Instead of rubbing your silver jewelry (and silverware) for hours, grab some baking soda aluminum foil and watch the tarnish disappear like in a magic trick. You should cover the bottom or a bowl with aluminum foil and prepare the magic solution: bring water to a boil and add one table spoon of baking soda per cup of water (the solution will bubble, so don't get surprised!). Place the silver jewelry on the foil and pour the backing soda solution into the bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes or more if you're dealing with heavier tarnish and take your shiny silver jewelry out. No sweat, no hustle!

Spoiler alert: It's actually not magic, it's just letting the science do all the work. Thanks to a process, called ion exchange, the tarnish gets transferred from the jewelry t the aluminum and into the water. Neat, right?

 

How to Clean Gold Jewelry

Although gold doesn't tarnish like other metals do, it can lose its luster over time due to a lot of factors, such as dust, dirt, detergent and so on. You can take your gold jewelry to a jeweler and have a professional take care of the cleaning, but why would you when there are fun DIY ways to do it yourself.

Similar to silver cleaning, you can clean your gold jewelry by placing it in an aluminum-covered bowl and pouring a mixture of 1 tablespoon of baking soda, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of dish soap and 3-4 tablespoons of hot water, with giving it a good toothbrush rub in the end. However, of all the detergent-rubbing cleaning ways we found the method that's obviously the most fun one.

Most Fun Method: Beer Bath

Now this is a really easy method and probably most suitable to do after you come home from work, kick off your shoes and sit back in your favorite easy chair. Grab a beer and two glasses. Open the bear and pour it: one glass is for you and one for your gold jewelry. As your jewelry is sitting in the beer for good 5 minutes, you can sip yours while going through Netflix.

After the 5 minutes are up, take the piece out, rinse and wipe it dry with a gentle cloth. You can use an old toothbrush for jewelry pieces with corners and textures, or you can dip a cloth in the beer and gently rub it. But we advocate the non-rubbing way, of course.

 

How to Clean Copper Jewelry

As you know, copper tarnishes over time, mostly due to the exposure to oxygen and the sweat on your skin. Patina or tarnish on copper-based metals is actually a good thing, as the tarnished layer protects and preserves the underlying metal from outside factors. Copper tarnish occurs in stages that are recognized by different colors: first, copper becomes dull, leading to gray and blue, then black and, lastly, it becomes aqua-green (this can be seen on building roofs and it's what you see when you look at the Statue of Liberty).

If your jewelry piece is lacquered, it will not tarnish as easily, but will rather become dull and less shinny. This is usually solved with a polishing cloth or a warm water and a dishwashing liquid or soap. If the copper is not lacquered, then it can be cleaned with some mild acidic substance, just as the lemon juice or vinegar.

The Fastest Way: Salt & Lemon Bath

When life gives you lemon, make a lemon bath for your copper jewelry! The fastest and the simplest way to clean copper would be to take a tablespoon of salt and some lemons. Mix the salt and the lemon juice in a bowl and dip the piece of jewelry. Squeeze enough lemon juice to cover the piece and let it sit for 30-60 seconds. Sit back, relax and watch the copper doing some self-cleaning without getting you involved. After the time is up, you'll get a super shinny copper jewelry piece and you'll need to rinse and dry with some soft cloth or towel.

 

How to Clean Brass Jewelry

Brass is a popular metal seen in jewelry quite often, because it is considered a great alternative to yellow gold due to its color and price. Over time, brass loses luster and gets a drab looke, so you'll need to give it its shine back.

Before you choose a cleaning method, make sure your jewelry is actually brass, and not just brass-plated. The best way to know for sure is to take a magnet and hold it against the jewelry. If it sticks – it's not brass. Secondly, you need to be sure whether your item is lacquered or not. If it's lacquered, it can be swiped with a damp cloth, but if not, you can use some of the super cleaning foods. Also, be careful with water, as brass picks up water stains easily, so make sure you dry your jewelry immediately after washing.

The Hotdog Method: Ketchup

There are quite a few really effective ways to clean brass jewelry, including the salt and white vinegar bath that doesn't require rubbing. However, we wanted to present a more interesting and fun way to do this, so we dug deeper.

We learned that people tried Coca-Cola baths and that it worked, but the method lasts for about three hours and, although the jewelry looked good, it did require some additional rubbing to obtain perfection. That's why we'll have to go with ketchup! You'll need either a soft cloth or a brush and just a little bit of ketchup.

We do prefer non-rubbing methods, but we love this one as you don't really need to apply much pressure and only a few rubs are enough to get the brass shinny again. The tomato acid is quite strong, so it dissolves tarnish quite fast without damaging the brass. Which is pretty cool. Just make sure you rinse the jewelry piece with warm water and dry it with a dry cloth immediately afterwards to avoid getting water stains.

 

How to Clean Pearls

Unlike cleaning tarnish, cleaning pearls is a delicate process. Pearls are extremely sensitive to chemicals and abrasives, so you'll need to clean them with care.  Besides, you'll need to take care of your pearls not just by cleaning them, but also by maintaining them properly. For example, always put your pearls on last, after you apply makeup, hairspray, lotion or perfume; always wipe them with a gentle cloth after wearing them to avoid oil buildup, store them flat, not hung, and store them in a separate fabric, not plastic bag to avoid scratches and damage.

The Tender Method: Water & Soap

For cleaning pearls, make sure you use an extremely mild soap, such as a baby soap as they are of high level of purity with very few chemicals in them. Use just a little bit of soap and little bit of warm water to create a pearl bath. If you want to clean a pearl necklace, never submerge it in water, because it will weaken the silk thread. Rather, dip a soft cleaning cloth in the mixture and gently wipe the pearls. After you're done, dry them with an extremely soft cloth or a towel and leave them to dry completely before storing (important for the string strand). Never forget: pearls need tender love, you make sure they get it!

 

How to Clean Costume Jewelry

Even though costume jewelry is low-priced jewelry, it doesn't mean it doesn't need cleaning.  Costume metals and stones are usually less durable than those found in finer jewelry, so you can't really use a jewelry cleaner meant for regular jewelry here, as it will ruin the finish. You'll need to use gentle cleaning methods that won't damage these pieces.

The Gentle Scrub Method: Toothpaste and Toothbrush

Get a soft-bristle toothbrush and a toothpaste that doesn't contain whitening or tartar-control chemical, as those might damage the metal. Put the toothpaste on the toothbrush and start rubbing the jewelry gently for about 5 to 10 minutes. The baking soda in the toothpaste will do all the dirt-removal action.

 Rinse with warm water and dry the piece with a dry cloth. In case the jewelry is not glued, you can prepare a gentle detergent bath and submerge the pieces. However, if the pieces are glued, avoid submerging the pieces and stick to toothpaste.