How to clean sterling silver jewelry

Cleaning jewelry is not that difficult as it seems, there are plenty of jewelry cleaners best for cleaning gold or silver available on the market. There are also many home jewelry cleaning ideas you can use. It's enough to read this article to make your jewelry shine once again.

Silver chains or gold earrings loose their luster when you wear them often so it is essential to clean them knowingly so as they could regain their gloss. There are several home ideas which will make your jewelry shine again. Above all, it is advisable to check what is your ring or pendant made from since all noble metals and precious stones have different cleaning requirements. There are plenty of ways for cleaning silver or gold with products we usually possess at home but we are unaware of the fact that they may be used for jewelry cleaning.

1) Cigarette ash - mix cigarette ash with water, apply this pulp on a toothbrush and clean silver jewelry and plates until they start shining. Rinse the object under tap water.
2) Toothpaste - put the toothpaste on a toothbrush and clean jewelry until receiving desired effect. Rinse under the tap water.
3) Onion juice - it is used for cleaning gold. You should apply the juice on the jewelry item and polish it with a soft cloth after several hours. Gold rings, earring and necklaces should gleam once again.
4) Soda and soap flakes - for gold jewelry too. Place the soda and soap into the jar full of warm water, put the product into the jar and shake it. After several shakes and rinsing in warm water you can start polishing the product.
5) Baking soda - apply baking soda on a wad of cotton wool and rub the jewelry. It is good for bracelets and gold chains.
6) Washing - you can wash your jewelry with clothes in temp 30-40C but remember to protect them in special sacks or tights.

You can clean gemstones in several ways:

1) Amber - clean it with soft cloth soaked in water with soap and ammonia or a pulp made of alcohol and powdered chalk. After cleaning apply almond oil on it.
2) Semi-precious stones e.g. agate, amethyst, jasper or topaz should be cleaned in water with soap and ammonia and polished with a flannel.
3) Pearls - natural ones should be left in milk for the whole day and after that rinsed under warm water. Cultured pearls should be immersed in water with soap and rinsed in water of the same temperature. Artificial pearls should be immersed in water with ammonia and flash powder.
4) Corals - you should place them in salt water, rinse and polish, You can also polish them with a soft cloth with several droplets of olive oil.
5) Turquoise - they should be cleaned with water and baking soda
6) Opal - you should only dry clean them with a toothbrush.

Cleaning jewelry

Jewelry can also be cleaned with chemicals such as liquids, lotions or special cleaning cloths for silver. There are products which act as a bath for silver products, they are made of a special safe chemical mixture which helps remove matte tarnish from jewelry without the risk of damaging the metal. A basket placed inside the box with the chemical enables to clean several items at the same time. The product can also be used many times because its cleaning properties are not changed by the contact with metal. Liquids for cleaning silver, gold and copper can be used for immersing jewelry or polishing them, they give jewelry high luster and fresh look. Silver jewelry should be placed in it for 2-3 minutes, gold jewelry for 5-10 minutes. Gemstones, pearls and costume jewelry should not be cleaned by chemical products.

An other product worth recommending for cleaning is milky lotion that removes dirt and tarnish from silver objects, it contains substances that limit further tarnishing. There's also a cloth which is perfect for silver, gold and copper and prevents from appearing new coatings. It's enough to rub a jewelry item several times to notice that its gleam and luster is restored. This cloth can be convenient, even during the journey. Although this cloth cannot be washed you can frequently use it.