3 Easy Steps to Keep Your Jewelries Shiny and New
Want to keep your jewelry looking shiny and timeless? Take these tips and tricks to heart and you'll be on your way to making your pieces of jewelry look as good as new every single time!
Here are three tips to help you prevent your jewelry from getting damaged and tarnished, and what to do if it does.
1. Keep Your Jewelry Away From Chemicals.
The general rule in maintaining jewelry is to keep it dry.
Although pure water by itself doesn't do real damage, it's becoming harder now to avoid chemicals and contaminants in the water.
Anything can happen, so the best that you can do is remember what chemicals you should stay away from as far as possible.
Cleaning products: Take off your rings and bracelets before washing dishes or doing your laundry.
Personal care products: These are lotions, perfumes, hair sprays, makeup items , and other beauty products. To avoid damage, make sure your jewelry is the last thing you put on when preparing.
Chlorinated water in swimming pool: This chemical can react strongly in your fine metals.
2. Store Your Jewelry Properly.
Like all things precious, you need proper storage for them because of these two reasons:
When your jewelry is constantly being tossed around, it's more likely to get scratches and marks. Get functional padding to minimize impact, especially if you're traveling.
Oxidation plays a big role in tarnishing most of the metals. Try to store your pieces in airtight storage.
One of the best ways to deal with this is to wrap pieces into tissues or better yet, into an anti-tarnish cloth. Then put it in a secured Ziploc bags. Also, throw in a silica packet to reduce moisture in your storage, thus less oxidation.
3. Know how to Clean Your Jewelry.
Tricks in cleaning your jewelry can vary from one another. It depends on the metals, stones or the very type of pieces. Although there are commercial cleaners or tarnish removing products, it can be expensive.
Good thing, there are some DIY remedies you can find online. Here's one of the most known techniques:
Saltwater Method
Place jewelry on an aluminum foil.
Combine 1 cup of boiling water, with 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of baking soda together.
Mix it in a bowl, then pour slowly into the foil containing your pieces.
Add ½ cup of vinegar. Leave for 15 minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Immediately dry with a microfiber cloth.
Do not use this with jewelry containing pearls or gemstones, as it could loosen their finish.
Conclusion:
With the right methods, your jewelry can look good as new. Remember, know where and when to wear it, how to store it and more importantly, how to clean it. Jewelry gets dirty over time, especially if you wear them often. So if you don’t want that to happen, take good care of them starting now.
