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Cleaning & Safety
of Jewellery: |
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How to clean &
safe your jewellery at home??
A quick Web search will turn up hundreds of different methods for cleaning your
jewelry—like using toothpaste to make diamonds sparkle, beer to shine gold and ketchup
to polish silver. These are exactly the kind of clever tricks you’d love to try…just
not on your own jewelry. So instead of experimenting with Grandma’s heirlooms, we
talked to the pros to find out how to safely care for your jewelry.
Pearls:
“When pearls are visibly dirty, wash them in 1 teaspoon of Woolite diluted in 1
quart of water,” says Kathy Higginbotham, Silpada Designs’ director of quality control.
“Immerse them for 10 to 15 seconds, wipe with a soft cotton cloth and lay flat to
dry.” Store them in a cotton bag—never plastic—separate from other jewelry. To ensure
that they stay lustrous, think outside the jewelry box: wearing them regularly will
keep them polished, thanks to your body’s natural oils. When you take them off,
wipe them with a dry cotton cloth.
Diamonds:
“The best way to clean a diamond is with warm soapy water and a soft-bristle brush
or old toothbrush,” says Loretta Castoro, vice president and international jewelry
buyer for Jewelry Television. Pat it dry with a soft cloth. You may have heard that
using toothpaste gets your diamond to sparkle; it’s not a great idea, says Castro.
“While toothpaste won’t harm the diamond, it is abrasive enough to harm the softer
metals next to the diamond, like silver, so it is not recommended.”
Gold:
Always remove gold jewelry before showering or cleaning because “soap and chemicals
can cause a film to form on karat gold, which makes it appear dull and dingy,” says
Castoro. While there are plenty of commercial cleaners available, it’s just as effective
to clean gold with what you already have. For untarnished jewelry, mix a few drops
of mild dish detergent with warm water, and scrub with a soft-bristle toothbrush.
If it’s tarnished, mix a few drops of ammonia into soapy water, submerge the jewelry
and carefully brush with a soft-bristle toothbrush. Rinse it with lukewarm water
and allow it to dry.
Avoiding chlorine is key to keeping gold jewelry looking good. “Chlorine at high
temperatures, like in a hot tub, can permanently damage or discolor your gold jewelry,”
says Castoro
Sterling Silver:
“Sterling silver is a soft metal that can scratch easily,” says Higginbotham. “Scrubbing
it or using a cloth with even the slightest abrasiveness will harm the surface.”
She advises using a silver polishing cloth or a very soft, clean sponge with no
residue to polish and get rid of tarnish.
Jewelry with a Textured Surface:
A brass brush, which can be found in the paint department of a hardware store, with
soapy water works especially well on textured 14 karat gold jewelry, says Nantucket-based
jeweler Jessica Hicks. “The tiny bristles get in the grooved surface to clean. The
brass metal of the bristles help give it a nice satin polished look.” For silver
jewelry with an intricate design, use a silver-cleaning paste to get into the grooves,
and wipe with a soft, clean cloth.
For Artificial Jewellery:
* Artficial jewellery keep away from perfume & sweat & avoid direct contact
to water.
* For long life of artificial jewellery, after using keep in polythene bag or wrap
with tissue or any cotton fabric.
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