Jewelry Cleaning and Care
To preserve the beauty of your jewelry, it should be cleaned regularly. By regularly cleaning and maintaining your jewelry, you will significantly extend its lifespan. An essential part of jewelry care is its regular cleaning.
Regularly cleaning your jewelry ensures its long life and prevents potential skin irritation caused by ingrained dirt. See our tips for cleaning and maintaining jewelry below.
Cleaning Silver Jewelry | Cleaning Silver
The most common silver used in jewelry is so-called sterling silver, which contains 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, most commonly copper. Copper as an alloying agent for silver allows silver to be worked into various jewelry pieces, but copper oxidizes over time, leading to silver tarnishing.
Perfumes, dirt, and skin contact, among other things, accelerate silver tarnishing. Therefore, silver jewelry stays brightest when stored separately from other silver jewelry, for example, in a resealable bag.
Often, silver jewelry is rhodium-plated, meaning it is coated with rhodium, which is a white, shiny, and very hard metal belonging to the platinum group. Rhodium plating gives the jewelry a shimmering light and bright surface and prevents silver from tarnishing. Silver jewelry can also be surface-treated with platinum plating, which, like rhodium plating, gives the jewelry a light and bright surface and prevents silver from tarnishing.
To achieve different color shades, silver jewelry can be oxidized, i.e., darkened by oxidation, or coated with other materials, such as different shades of gold plating.
Cleaning silver jewelry with mild soapy water
Silver jewelry can be cleaned with a regular, diluted dish soap and a soft toothbrush. Washing with dish soap removes grease and dirt from the jewelry, but it does not remove silver tarnish.
After washing, rinse the jewelry under plenty of water and dry it thoroughly with a soft cloth. Once the jewelry is clean, it is also important to store it carefully, separate from other jewelry, for example, in a resealable bag.
Silver rings and silver earrings should be cleaned weekly, as they tend to accumulate the most dirt. Cleaning a silver ring is especially recommended, as dirt can easily collect in its various crevices. Cleaning frequently used silver chains is also often advisable. However, all jewelry needs cleaning at regular intervals.
Cleaning silver jewelry with a silver polishing cloth
Tarnish on silver jewelry can be easily removed with a silver polishing cloth designed for polishing silver jewelry.
After cloth cleaning, it is advisable to wash the jewelry in mild soapy water so that the cleaning agent contained in the cloth does not stain clothes or irritate the skin. After washing with soap, rinse the jewelry with plenty of water and dry it thoroughly.
Oxidized, i.e., darkened by oxidation, silver jewelry can be cleaned locally with a silver cloth, exercising particular caution. The cleaning agents contained in the cloth can at worst wear away the oxidation and make the jewelry shiny. Should damage occur, the jewelry can be re-oxidized by a goldsmith.
Cleaning silver jewelry with silver cleaning liquid
Cleaning a matte-finished or, for example, a three-dimensional silver piece of jewelry with a cloth can be very difficult. If a matte piece of jewelry is cleaned with a cloth, its surface will gradually become shiny as the matte finish wears off.
For jewelry that is difficult to clean with a cloth, there are various cleaning liquids into which the jewelry is dipped for a moment. After dipping, the jewelry should be rinsed with plenty of water and dried thoroughly with a towel. Before cleaning silver jewelry with liquid, please read the cleaning liquid's instructions carefully!
Because silver cleaning liquids contain very strong chemicals, the manufacturer's instructions for use must be followed absolutely precisely! Oxidized or, for example, gold-plated jewelry is not recommended for cleaning in a cleaning liquid, as the liquid will corrode the plating or brighten the darkened jewelry.
In our selection, you will find various cleaning liquids and cloths that make cleaning silver jewelry easy and effortless.
Cleaning Gold Jewelry | Cleaning Gold
Most often, gold jewelry uses either 9, 14, or 18-karat yellow, white, or rose gold. An 18-karat gold alloy contains 75% pure gold, a 14-karat alloy 58.5%, and a 9-karat alloy contains 37.5% pure gold; the rest of the gold alloy consists of various other metals, whose proportions determine the different shades of gold.
Yellow gold contains silver and copper in addition to gold, white gold contains silver and palladium, and rose gold mainly contains silver and copper, but the amount of copper can influence the redness of the gold.
White gold jewelry is often rhodium-plated, meaning it is coated with rhodium, which is a white, shiny, and very hard metal belonging to the platinum group. Rhodium plating gives the jewelry a shimmering light and bright surface.
Unlike silver, gold does not tarnish over time. However, gold jewelry, especially gold rings or engagement rings worn daily, loses its shine as skin oils and other dirt adhere to the jewelry. "Tarnished gold" is simply dirty gold.
Cleaning gold jewelry with mild soapy water
Gold jewelry can be washed by first soaking it in diluted soapy water, and after a short while, cleaning off the dirt with a soft toothbrush. Once the jewelry has been cleaned in soapy water, it is important to rinse it with plenty of water and then dry it thoroughly.
Gold rings and gold earrings should be cleaned weekly. If the jewelry has glued parts, we do not recommend washing them with soapy water, but at most wiping them with a damp cloth. Soapy water washing will eventually dissolve the glue.
Cleaning gold jewelry with a gold cleaning cloth
For stubborn dirt and to achieve a highly polished finish, yellow and rose gold jewelry can be polished with a gold polishing cloth. White gold unplated jewelry can also be polished with a cleaning cloth.
For rhodium-plated white gold jewelry, a cleaning cloth should be used with caution, as wiping with a cloth and any mechanical abrasion will damage the plating.
A gold cleaning cloth does not contain as strong chemicals as, for example, a silver cleaning cloth, so washing the jewelry after cloth cleaning is not necessary.
Cleaning gold jewelry with gold cleaning liquid
For cleaning gold jewelry, you can also use cleaning agents specifically designed for diamond and gold jewelry. The jewelry is immersed in the cleaning solution using a small basket, and the cleaning liquid is allowed to act for a short while. Immersion cleaning restores the jewelry's shine and effectively cleans even all small details.
Before cleaning gold jewelry with gold cleaning liquid, please read the cleaning liquid's instructions carefully! Cleaning liquids contain very strong chemicals, so it is important to follow the manufacturer's instructions for use absolutely precisely!
Cleaning can be done weekly or as often as deemed necessary. Finally, the jewelry should be rinsed with plenty of water and dried with a soft cloth.
In our selection, you will find various cleaning liquids and cloths, with which you can make your gold jewelry shine like new. If, despite cleaning, your gold jewelry does not seem to shine as before, it may well be necessary to have the jewelry polished by a goldsmith.
Cleaning gold with baking soda is a trick circulated in some sources, but valuable and often cherished gold jewelry should be cleaned as carefully and responsibly as possible with gold cleaning agents specifically designed for their care. Cleaning jewelry is always about caring for it, and how you clean your jewelry is also important.
Cleaning Pearl Jewelry
Proper care of pearl jewelry is truly important to preserve its beauty year after year. Pearl jewelry should not be stored in the same box with other jewelry, and pearls should be put on last and taken off first.
Various chemicals, such as hairsprays and deodorants, may gradually change the pearl's color and dull its luster. With pearl jewelry, sweating and excessive contact with water should be avoided.
Wiping with a soft cloth
After use, pearls should be carefully wiped with a clean, soft cloth.
Cleaning pearl jewelry with mild soapy water
Pearls can be washed a few times a year with lukewarm water and a very mild dishwashing detergent solution. After washing, the pearls should be rinsed under plenty of water and dried thoroughly with a soft towel.
Maintenance of pearl jewelry
It is advisable to have pearl jewelry checked by a goldsmith every few years, during which the stringing of the pearls can be inspected and any necessary repairs made to the jewelry.
Cleaning Bronze Jewelry | Cleaning Bronze
Bronze is an alloy of copper, tin, and zinc; due to these alloying agents, bronze is characterized by rapid tarnishing. Most new bronze jewelry has a protective lacquer finish that prevents the dark color characteristic of bronze from rubbing off onto clothes and skin. The clasp part of the jewelry is not coated with a protective lacquer layer, so bronze jewelry clasps tarnish faster than the rest of the jewelry.
The lacquer finish wears off with use and is damaged by various chemicals, which is why it is recommended to remove jewelry during sports, sauna, or swimming.
Cleaning bronze jewelry with mild soapy water
Cleaning bronze jewelry at home is quite feasible. Bronze jewelry can be cleaned with diluted dish soap. After cleaning, the jewelry should be rinsed under plenty of water and dried thoroughly with a soft cloth.
Cleaning bronze jewelry with a cloth
Bronze jewelry can be carefully cleaned with a silver polishing cloth. After cloth cleaning, it is advisable to wash the jewelry in mild soapy water so that the cleaning agent contained in the cloth does not stain clothes or irritate the skin.
Maintenance of bronze jewelry
You can also have bronze jewelry cleaned or its protective lacquer layer renewed by a goldsmith. For example, cleaning old bronze jewelry might be most convenient for a goldsmith to handle.
Can hot water be used for cleaning jewelry?
Hot water can be used for cleaning jewelry, as hot water removes dirt and grease better than cold water. You can use plenty of water when cleaning jewelry, but always remember to dry the jewelry thoroughly after washing.
Maintenance of diamond and gold jewelry by a goldsmith
Diamond rings are recommended to be taken to a goldsmith approximately every two years for setting inspection and possible tightening. Since wedding rings and engagement rings, in particular, are worn daily, it is natural for the settings to loosen over time.
Other diamond jewelry, such as earrings and pendants, do not require maintenance as often, but it would be advisable to have them inspected by a goldsmith for settings approximately every five years to prevent an expensive stone from falling out.
In addition, the rhodium plating (rhodium coating) on white gold rings wears off with use, and to maintain their shine, a white gold ring can be taken to a goldsmith for re-rhodium plating approximately every two years.
Explore Kulta-Aika's goldsmith services here. We can provide you with a free price estimate before performing any work, should you desire. Requesting a price estimate does not obligate you to anything.