To keep your jewelry sparkling you've got to take care of it! Cleaning your jewelry is an important part of its care. No matter how careful you are with your jewelry daily life will take its toll on it - grime and dirt, hair spray residue, soap film - they all cause a residue to build up on your jewelry making it dull and unimpressive. Cleaning your jewelry should be done with a little caution. Some stones such as turquoise, pearls, or opals, do not fair well with harsher cleaners. Use only warm soapy water and a Q-tip to gently clean these stones or gems. Rinse and polish. Toothpaste also works well. Place a small amount on a soft bristle brush, scrub, rinse well, then polish with a soft cloth. Sterling silver jewelry is beautiful. However, overtime it will tarnish and not look so beautiful. It is important to clean your sterling jewelry regularly. There are many silver cleaner dips on the market which can be used for jewelry that has no stones or gems. However, I don't recommend using silver cleaners on jewelry that has stones or gems set in it. In these cases I recommend using a Q-tip to apply the cleaner directly to the just the silver, then rinse completely and polish with a soft cloth. If you wish, you can use a blow dryer on the setting to make sure there is no water residue left. Do not let your jewelry soak for long periods of time in cleaner. The moisture can damage some jewelry. Moisture can damage a piece of jewelry over time, so if you do put your jewels into a wet jewelry solution, or rinse in water, make sure you dry it thoroughly. Use a soft towel to get the moisture out of all the cracks and crevices. You may want to use the blow dryer as mentioned above. |
